Homecoming War
by ShatteredShadows
Summary: Troy Bolton is sure to win the crown for Homecoming King. But the Queen wins a date with the King, and both Sharpay and Gabriella are running. Troyella! Pre HSM2
1. Homecoming Nominees

Okay, I finally got hit by an idea! I was playing solitaire and it was like BOOM! I literally fell off the computer chair. So I wrote the first chapter. R&R.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from HSM. Or Arthur the Aardvark. Or Minnie Mouse.

* * *

Homecoming War

Chapter One

Homecoming Nominees

Gabriella Montez sat in her homeroom class.

She looked at the clock, 8:15. Announcements would start any second now.

She glanced over at her crush, Troy Bolton, and was surprised to see him staring at her.

Right as she looked at him he jerked his head to the left and he started to talk to his friend, Zeke, as if they had been speaking the whole time.

Gabriella was about to start a conversation with her best friend, Taylor, when the annnouncements started to blare over the loud speaker.

"_Hello students of East High!_" The principal's voice was heard throughout the entire school and there was immediate silence. "_Today is Monday, Febuary 23. Last Friday was our school's production of the musical "Twinkletowne" written and composed by our own Kelsi Neilson. I hope you all went to see it, it was filled with romance, drama, comedy, and some really good singing. You can thank the leads, Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez for that. Today at lunch there will be…"_

Gabriella felt her cheeks turn red. She looked at Troy, whose face was a deep crimson.

"…_and some vegetables on the side. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. Now we announce your nominees for Homecoming King and Queen. Nominees for King: Troy Bolton, Zeke Baylor, and…Ryan Evans?I mean, yes, Ryan Evans. Nominees for Queen: Sharpay Evans, Rachel Deloski, who most of you know as Sharpette #2, and Gabriella Montez. More information on that is in the main office. That concludes our morning announcements, have a great day._"

Gabriella's eyes went wide as she digested the information.

_Homecoming Queen_.

She laughed, that was one of the last things she wanted to run for. She was more interested in student-body president or treasurer. But not Homecoming Queen.

Even if she would get to be sitting next to Troy for hours, it would be on a float and she'd have to be smiling and waving her hand the whole time.

That job was more cut out for Sharpay or a Sharpette. Even though if a Sharpette ever beat Sharpay they wouldn't be a Sharpette for much longer, they'd get kicked out. Which meant that Rachel whatever would drop out of the competition by lunch.

The bell rang, and Gabriella ran out of the classroom. She walked down a flight of stairs. Her homeroom was on the second floor of the school but for some strange reason her locker was on the first floor.

"Hey Minnie Mouse."

"Hey Arnold the Aardvark. What are you doing around here? Isn't you're next class on the third floor?"

Troy and Gabriella called each other by their character's names for Twinkletowne sometimes, except that they'd modified them both into the names of kid's show characters. **(A/N I know its really Arthur the Aardvark, just go along with Arnold, I couldn't think of any other famous kid's show Arnolds.)**

"Oh, no, its down here. I was just walking by and decided to say hi. So, you nervous about running for Queen?"

Gabiella sighed and grabbed her History textbook. "I dunno, I think that job was made more for Sharpay or something. I might drop out, I know Sharpette #2 is going to."

Troy shook his head. "And how are you so sure that the Sharpette is gonna quit."

"_Attention students, before you cast your ballots there is an announcement. Rachel Deloski is no longer running for Homecoming Queen._"

Gabriella gave Troy a knowing look. "I had an hunch. And by first period too, that's a new record."

Troy laughed. Gabriella felt her heart flip, she loved it when Troy laughed.

She put her bag in her locker. "I gotta go," she held up her textbook, "History."

Troy just nodded and watched her walk away. He turned around. Now he had to go all the way up to the third floor to get to his class.

* * *

Gabriella struggled to keep her eyes open. Her teacher was lecturing the class about Ancient Greece and her hand was, without thinking, recording every word he said. 

She sighed and thought of Troy. She wondered what class he had right now. What was he learning?

She looked down at her notes and wondered how she had gotten that talent. The ability to take notes absent-mindedly. It was rather handy though. She could daydream while some part of her brain was listening to what the teacher was saying and writing it down.

She wondered what it would be classified as. "Mild Superpower" she guessed. Her thoughts lingered back to Troy.

She pictured his somewhat light, somewhat dark brown hair.

She could see his handsome features and his toned muscles.

She had spent a lot of time memorizing his face. His lips, his ears, his cheekbones, his nose.Then came his eyes. Or the deep blue pools where his eyes should have been.

That was the one thing she couldn't see in her mind. His eyes. There were too blue and vivid, you had to see them in front of you just to even imagine them.

She wondered if he was thinking about her too. She shook her head, he would never be thinking about her.

* * *

Troy Bolton sat in his English class. There was a video on about English Literature. 

Had Shakespeare had any girlfriends in High School? Had he even gone to High School? Troy pondered for a few minutes.

His thoughts kept wandering off until they reached the one subject he loved to think about. Gabriella.

He remembered back to that day he had aced the callbacks, won the Championship game, and Gabriella had won the Scholoastic Decathalon.

He remembered how he had almost kissed Gabriella that day. Their faces had only been an inch apart.

If only he _had_ kissed her. Then everything would have been different. Then they would have been going out. Then he could really kiss her instead of just imagining it.

But no. Life wasn't perfect. Chad just _had _to of jumped in and given him the game ball at that exact second. Chad needed to pay for what he did.

Without even thinking, Troy flung his pencil at Chad's head.

"Ow!"

"Mr. Danforth, is everything alright?" The teacher asked politely.

Chad looked down and saw Troy's pencil and, being the good friend that he was, didn't rat him out. "Oh, no. I just…um…hit my toe on the edge of the desk."

"Okay, well make sure you are more careful next time." The teacher replied before going back to her work.

After class Chad confronted Troy. "Dude, why'd you throw your pencil at me?"

Troy thought for a second. "Well…I saw you dozing of and the teach was totally giving you the evil eye. So I threw my pencil at you to wake you up and get you out of trouble."

Chad smiled. "Oh, thanks man. I can't afford another detention"

* * *

Okay, so it wasn't an action packed chapter or anything but its like the introduction. So it gets better the next chapter.

I'm going camping for Labor Day weekend, so I probably won't be able to update until I get back. Plus school has started, but I'll still try to update every day. Please review. Please no mean reviews. If you really hated it and would like to tell me just write a review saying "Purple Socks." then I'll know what you're talking about. But if you loved it write as long of a review as you like!

The next chapter is called _"We Put The 'Date' in Candidate"_.


	2. We Put the 'Date' in Candidate

Chapter 2, up and ready. I'm really sorry, next update will probably be Monday. But here's this chapter, Ryan and Sharpay are in it. Ryan isn't a bad guy in this story, but Sharpay is.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from HSM.

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Chapter 2

We Put the 'Date' in Candidate

Gabriella picked up her things and hastened out of Science.

She tried to erase the memory of that lesson from her mind. They were learning about the male body, and the word that had escaped from every student's mouths at least eight times was "ew".

Gabriella turned a corner and almost ran into Sharpay Evans.

"Oh, hello Gabriella. I hope you have a good plan to beat me out for that Queen position. If not, then I'm going to steamroll right over you. But, you know, all in good competition."

Gabriella put on a big fake smile, she really couldn't stand Sharpay. "Well, I think I might actually drop out."

"Oh, well the better for me. I guess you don't want that date after all." Sharpay started to inspect her perfectly manicured nails.

"Date? What date?"

"Oh, you know, every girl's dream date."

Gabriella wanted to punch Sharpay right now. "Sharpay, tell me, _now_."

Sharpay looked up, mischief glinting in her eye, and said, "Oh, you know, how the Queen and King win a free date at the Lava Springs Country Club." **(A/N Sharpay doesn't own Lava Springs in this story)**

Gabriella's jaw dropped. "Th-they win a date with…with Troy?"

Sharpay smiled sweetly. "Yes. They do. And now that you're dropping out I get—"

"I'm not dropping out. And I'm winning that date." Gabriella quickly sputtered out. She immediately covered her mouth with her hands. She might as well just put a sign on her head saying "I love Troy Bolton".

Sharpay's faultless eyebrows rose. "Well, okay then. It's on." And with those parting words she strolled off.

Gabriella shrugged, she might as well stay in the running, she had _some_ sort of chance of winning. She continued walking until she reached the stairwell. She turned and walked down to the first floor.

Zeke was handing out cupcakes that said "Vote Zeke, The God of the Greek". Gabriella grabbed one and sauntered over to her locker.

"So, are you gonna vote for your secret love Troy, or are you thinking of switching your vote to me?" Ryan Evans leaned against Gabriella's locker.

Gabriella and Ryan were good friends. They didn't have any romantic feelings towards each other, so they could talk about basically everything.

"Well, Troy _is _gaurunteed to win, so I guess it won't hurt for one person to switch their vote."

Ryan punched the air. "Yes! I got one vote!"

Gabriella laughed. "Aren't you voting for yourself?"

"No, I'm voting for Troy. I have poor waving skills. And…and…you know…I just…you know…it's just…"

Gabriella shook her head. "Look, you got my vote. And you'll do great."

Ryan put his head back. "You really think so?"

Gabriella nodded.

"Thanks Gabi. So, how was the lesson on the male body?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes. Just like Ryan to bring up the very thing she wanted to forget. "Ugh, gross! But on the way out I had a run-in with your sister."

"Ooh, scary. What's the news?"

"Um, it's on."

"Oh boy, that's problematic."

"Oh yeah, I also learned that the King and Queen win a date!"

"No way! Oh, ewww!" Ryan stuck out his tongue.

"What?" Gabriella was holding back a laugh.

"It's just, if I win I have to either go on a date with my sister or with you. No offense or anything, I'm not accusing you to be undateable or anything. It's just, you practically are my sister. You're actually more of my sister than Sharpay is."

"Yeah, I would imagine Sharpay wouldn't be a good sister. Well, I gotta go, don't wanna be late. See ya, Ry."

Ryan waved, "See ya, Gabs. And see this?" He said, pointing to his waving hand, "Terrible waving skills!"

* * *

Troy began to walk to his locker. He had to go past the Main Office, so he always got to see the big, colorful bulletins.

He passed a huge sign saying "This Year, We Put the 'Date' in Candidate!" He did a double-take. He walked up to the poster and read the paper below it.

"_This Homecoming a new tradtion has been included. After the King and Queen are announced, they will receive a few prizes, the most extravagant one being a free luxury date at the Lava Springs Country Club. Attendance is required. So when the students vote, they won't just be creating the Homecoming Court, they'll also be forming a couple._"

Troy's heart sped up. Did Gabriella know about this? She had said that she wanted to drop out, had this been the real reason? Had she been apalled at the thought of going on a date with him?

He shook his head. That had to be the reason. He had always imagined himself having some sort of chance with Gabriella, but apparently not.

She just left him for Sharpay to take. _Oh god_. Troy thought. He was going to have to go on a date with Sharpay.

Troy shuddered. He knew that Sharpay had a massive crush on him, but he just couldn't forgive her for the thing with the callbacks.

Plus, it was Sharpay. If he'd wanted to ask her out, he would of already.

He couldn't believe it. Gabriella must have dropped out as a subtle hint that she wasn't interested.

But when Sharpette #2 dropped out there was an announcement. So she hadn't dropped out yet. That meant that somewhere in the school, Gabriella was probably comtemplating his dateabilty.

He had to find her. The bell rung, he'd have to wait until Science was over.

* * *

Troy groaned. He knew what male body parts looked like, so why did he have to learn about them? He knew how they functioned, he had them all.

He looked around the class. A bunch of girls were giggling and hiding their faces, some were watching with their faces contorted into looks of pure disgust, and a few of the braniacs were actually taking notes.

Sharpay was in this class. She was one of the ones giggling like she had mad cow disease or something.

She looked over at Troy, and saw him looking at her. It was dark, so she apparently hadn't seen the look of distaste on his face. She smirked, then continued to giggle hysterically.

The bell rang, and Troy darted out of class. He was stopped by a smiling Sharpay.

It wasn't a that's-funny-so-I'm-laughing smile, nor was it a we're-friends-so-I'm-smiling-to-be-friendly smile either. It was a full on flirtatious smile.

Troy wasn't really affected by Sharpay's flirtatious smile. In fact there was only one flirtatious smile he was affected by. And that was Gabriella's. Gabriella didn't flirt a lot, but when she did Troy always forgot how to talk.

_Flashback_

_Troy walked up to Gabriella one day and she flashed him the smile. _

"_Well, well, well doesn't someone look extremely cute today."_

_Troy's face immediately had a goofy grin stretched across it. "Um…thanks ma'am, I mean sir, I mean Gabriella! Um…you're shirt…um…it reminds me of…um...my mom's hairdryer!"_

_Gabriella looked confusedly at her plain white shirt. "What?"_

"_I said my mom's hairdryer reminds me of you. You remind me of the thing that dries hair. YOU HAVE DRY HAIR! IT'S NOT WET, IT'S DRY!"_

"_Troy, your yelling. I…um…gotta go."_

_End Flashback_

Yeah, the flirting thing doesn't really always work out. But back to Sharpay. She was flashing him a smile that Zeke would kill to have her flash at him.

"So, Troy, I saw you staring at me today. Does someone have a little crush?"

"Okay, one, I wasn't staring at you I had looked over to make sure it was you laughing and not a hyena sitting in your seat. And two, I date girls, not devils with the face of girls."

Sharpay's mouth fell open. "You are so offensive! But hey, I like a bad boy." Sharpay put her arms around Troy's waist and pulled him towards her.

His face was about an inch from hers, Troy felt like he might puke. "Do you feel anything now?" Sharpay whispered.

Troy pushed Sharpay off of him. "No, and if you'll excuse me I have to go throw up repeatedly."

Sharpay watched him walk off. "Someday you'll be mine Troy Bolton. I just gotta work on that Montez girl. This plan is foolproof."

Sharpay walked off to her car, she had work to do.

* * *

Grrrrr, I hate Sharpay! Please review. Pretty pretty please. And if you didn't remember from the last chapter, my new policy is that if you hated it and want to tell me then write a review saying "Purple socks".

The next chapter, hmmmm, I actually haven't written it yet, but I know what its about. It doesn't have a title at the moment, but since its still under construction feel free to make suggestions.


	3. Homework Thief

Okay, I'm really sorry. My mom told me we were getting home from vacation on Monday, but when we did we went out to dinner. When we came home it was late and I had to go to bed. The good news is that at the resteraunt, there was this balloon guy, and I got a balloon sword! Okay, I'm not five. I'm a teenager, who happens to like balloon swords, haha.

**Okay, here's my new thing. I pick my favorite review for the chapter, and do something with it. For example, here's the one for Chapter 2 (the winner was **Corbin's My Man**, who asked if they could smack Sharpay):**

**Deleted Scene:**

**Sharpay is standing at her locker, doing her make up. She looks into her mirror and sees someone coming. She turns around and realizes it's **Corbin's My Man**. She opens her mouth to say hello, but SMACK! **Corbin's My Man **slaps her across the face. She touches her face, there is an enormous red mark on it. She runs off wimpering and crying.**

**So yeah, there you go.**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from HSM.

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Chapter 3

Homework Thief

Gabriella tiptoed into her house; her mom had a very stressful job and was always taking a nap when Gabriella got home from school.

She creeped up the stairs and into her bedroom, where she immediately sat down at her desk to do her homework.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her Science binder. She opened it to the section titled "Diagrams" and pulled out the one of the male body. She then flipped to the section titled "Homework" and searched for the enormous green packet that they were assigned to have finished by the next day.

She couldn't find it, which didn't make sense. Gabriella was one of the most organized students in all of East High; all of her homework was arranged by date. But the green packet wasn't there.

She knew she had put it in there, so she kept looking. Eventually she picked up her binder and started to shake it out. A small pink slip of paper fell onto her desk. She grabbed it and quickly read through it.

"That little…URGH!" Gabriella screamed. The note read:

_Gabriella,_

_In order to run for Homecoming Queen you need at least a C in every class. I lost my Science homework, so I borrowed yours. If I skipped this homework assignment, my grade would go from a B to a D. But if you skipped it, your grade would go from an A to a C. So, your grade can suffer, and mine can't. Toodles!_

_-Sharpay_

Gabriella knew that Sharpay hadn't lost her packet and had just stolen hers so her grade would go down. But Gabriella wasn't going to give up.

Taylor was the editor of the _East High Inquirer_; if Gabriella was lucky she'd still be in the school putting the finishing touches on it. She grabbed her phone and called Taylor's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Taylor, its Gabriella, _please_ tell me you're still in school!"

"Yeah, I'm about to leave, so I'll call you when I—"

"No! Don't leave the school!" Gabriella interrupted.

"What? Why?"

"Sharpay stole my Science packet; can you get another one from the classroom and bring it to my house?"

"Oh no she didn't, girl that is straight up sabotage!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know, it's terrible. Can you just get the packet?"

Taylor sighed. "Yeah, I'll go get it. But you _have_ to get back at her for this!"

"Taylor, there's only one way to get revenge on Sharpay."

"And what is that?"

Gabriella smiled. "Win the crown of Homecoming Queen."

Gabriella couldn't see Taylor, but she could tell that she was smiling. "Oooh, I like the way you think. When I drop off your packet I'll help you make posters, and flyers, magnets, and even pins!"

"Okay, that's great. I'll see you then."

Gabriella hung up her phone and turned back to her desk. She got out the rest of her homework and started to complete it.

* * *

By the time Taylor got there Gabriella had already finished the rest of her homework. She took her Science packet and started working through it all. When she finished she whirled around in her chair to face Taylor.

"So, what did you bring?" Gabriella was looking at the bag bulging with stuff sitting next to Taylor.

"Well, I have some left over things from when I ran for class president, so I brought poster board, blank magnets, blank pins, sticker paper, and some colored paper. I also brought my laser printer, it can print on anything."

Gabriella laughed. "Okay, let's set all of this up."

Taylor pulled a paper out of her bag. "While I was in school I looked at everyone else's flyers and wrote down their slogans. Zeke's is 'Vote For Zeke, the God of the Greek', Sharpay's is 'Just Obey, Vote Sharpay! Or Else', Ryan's is 'Don't Go Cryin, Vote for Ryan!', and Troy doesn't have one either. So, what's your slogan gonna be?"

"Um, Vote Gabriella?"

Taylor shook her head. "No! It's gotta be catchy, like, um, 'Don't Disagree, Vote Gabi!'! That's a good one! Do you like it?"

"Um, sure. I guess that's my new slogan."

In an hour they had made 400 flyers, 5 posters, 400 magnets, and 500 pins saying "Don't Disagree, Vote Gabi!" printed in red and gold. They packed it all up for school, and then Taylor left.

Gabriella sat on her bed. She was bored. She picked up her phone and dialed Troy's number.

* * *

Troy was asleep, and dreaming. He was walking through East High, but there weren't any lockers, or people for that matter.

He turned a corner, he was looking for something, but he had no idea what.

He saw Gabriella wearing a red gown, and ran towards her. He looked down, he was wearing a black suit with a red tie.

"Gabriella you look amazing!"

She turned towards him and smiled. She opened her mouth, and to Troy's surprise, started to sing.

"_Twinkle twinkle little star,_

_How I wonder what you are._"

Troy listened to her sing, then said "You have a beautiful voice."

She smiled, then leaned into him. Troy stared at her lips as they came closer…closer…closer and—suddenly the song "Breaking Free" came over the loudspeaker. Gabriella backed up, then said "I have to go, I never loved you."

Troy jolted awake. He looked over at his phone, which was still ringing. He hated the person who had the nerve to call him and make Gabriella leave.

"What do you want?" Troy spat into his phone, he was so angry that he hadn't bothered to look at the caller ID.

"Oh, it's Gabriella. I just called to talk, but if it's not a good time I—"

"No! I can talk, I just, um, had a mood swing. So, what did you want to talk about."

"Nothing really, just anything. I just made up my slogan with Taylor. It's 'Don't Disagree, Vote Gabi!'."

"Oh, well, Gabriella, the people from the record books just called, they said you've made the record for 'Dumbest Slogan Ever'."

Gabriella laughed. "Hey, at least I have one."

"The idea just hasn't hit me yet."

"How about 'Vote Troy, He's….um…a Boy'."

"Yeah, that's a good one. So, now that you've made a slogan are you, like, actually trying to win?" Troy laughed.

"I dunno, I'm really not into the whole 'competition' thing. But hey, I'm running, so I might as well try."

After about a half hour of talking, Troy and Gabriella's conversation had completely changed directions.

"I'm wearing purple socks right now, what about you?"

Troy looked at his feet. "My socks are yellow."

"That's funny, I always pictured you as a blue socks guy."

"Um, okay?"

"Yeah, I know, weird."

Troy took a sigh, he might as well bring it up now. "So, um, did you, uh, hear about the prize the King and Queen win?"

"You mean the date at Lava Springs? Yeah, Sharpay told me. I thought about dropping out because of it but—"

"Please don't drop out! I'll die on a date with Sharpay, DIE I TELL YOU!"

"Troy, calm down. As I was saying; I thought about dropping out because of it but then decided not to."

"Heh, yeah, I totally knew that. But you'll totally win, no doubt about it."

"Aww, thanks. And if I win Queen I hope you win King."

Troy was silent, did she just say she wanted to go out with him?

"I mean, b-because, um, you kn-know. If Ryan wins it'd be like dating my brother, and Zeke is nice, but not really my type." Gabriella stammered.

Troy felt his heart drop. "Yeah, well, um, thanks. So, um, if you could dye my hair any color you wanted, what would it be?"

"Hmmm, oooh you'd look good with lime green hair!"

"Yeah, does it come with a clown nose?"

"Hey! Alright, if you could dye _my_ hair any color you wanted, what would it be?"

Troy thought for a second, then said "I'd keep it the same exact way it is right now, your hair is perfect."

"Really? That's so sweet of you to say!"

Troy's face got its goofy grin it always did, and Troy was using all of his strength to not say something stupid. "You deserve to be complimented." Troy heard himself say.

Had he just not messed up his words? Troy's mouth gaped open.

"Awww, Troy, you really mean it?"

"Of course I do!" Troy could not figure out how he had managed to not mention something like purple monkeys flying through gym class.

"Troy, you are one of the sweetest guys I've ever met. And—Oh my god, it's 11:30! We've been talking for two hours! I gotta get some sleep, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school then?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

"Okay, good night, Troy."

Troy heard her hang up, and said to his phone as if she was still there "Good night Gabriella, I love you."

He immediately shook his head. Had he just said that he _loved her_? I mean, he had a huge crush, but love? He thought about it.

Every time he was in a bad mood she was the only one who could cheer him up. She was the only girl who ever made him nervous, and after he had met her all the girls he had thought were hot seemed uninteresting. To think of it, after he had met her he hadn't gone on a date with anyone.

He gave up, he _was_ in love with Gabriella.

"I'm in love with Gabriella Montez." Troy said out loud before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Awww, I thought the phone thing was cute. The next chappie is called _Oh, Now It's Really On!_

Feel free to make suggestions of what you'd like to have happen in the story, the ending is already done, but the middle of the story can still be changed around.

Volleychic123's Review Policy: If you hated it write a review saying "Purple socks". If you loved it, say "The purple banana phone ran out of battery so I'm charging it with Cherry Kool-Aid!" I dunno, the 'loved it' saying will be different every time. You can write as much as you want after writing one of those two, and you're not required to write either.


	4. Okay, Now It's Really On!

This chapter is L-O-N-G! Yesterday were volleyball try outs, so I couldn't update. There aren't any try outs today, but there are on Friday. So, Saturday will be the next chapter.

Okay, my fave review goes to _mysupermanwillcome_ , who didn't know what Kool-aid was. Kool-aid is a powdered artificially flavored drink. It comes in many flavors.

Disclaimer: I don't not not own HSM. Didja figure that out?

* * *

Chapter 4

Okay, Now It's Really On!

Gabriella and Taylor finished putting up the last poster.

They had given the flyers to Martha to hand out, Taylor was taking the magnets, and Gabriella was giving out the pins.

So far half the school had in their possession some sort of object saying "Don't Disagree, Vote Gabi!". The other half were sporting "Just Obey, Vote Sharpay! Or Else" pins.

Gabriella had to help Kelsi with her pin, her compositions would never be picked for the musical again if Sharpay found out she wasn't voting for her.

So Gabriella had put her pin on Kelsi's shirt, and on Kelsi's jacket was Sharpay's pin. Every time Sharpay was coming, Kelsi would put on her jacket.

Gabriella smiled, maybe she'll actually win this.

* * *

Sharpay walked down a hallway to her locker. She paused when she saw a poster saying "Don't Disagree, Vote Gabi!".

Sharpay smiled, Gabriella had done just what she had wanted her to do. She reached into her purse and pulled out a black permanent marker. She looked around the hallway, there was no one there. She smiled again as she took of the cap of the marker…

* * *

Gabriella rushed to her History class, she couldn't be late. She saw a group of students standing in front of one of her posters sniggering. She walked up and gasped.

Someone had completely crossed out the "Disagree" in her slogan so that it now said "Don't Vote Gabi!" She reached up and ripped the poster of the wall. She threw it in the trash bin, she had to find out who did this.

But before she could, Sharpay grabbed her wrist. "Hey Gabriella, thanks for being so nice about the homework thing. It turns out I didn't need your copy, I had mine in my bag the whole time! Oh, and I hope you like the way I redecorated your poster, it looks much better now!"

Gabriella felt like she might explode, but instead she just walked away. Ryan ran up to her. "So, what did she say?"

"She asked for war." Gabriella growled.

"So, it's still on?"

"No, now it's _really_ on. She's gonna wish she was never hatched!"

"Umm, Gabriella, you might not of noticed, but I'm her twin, so you just insulted me."

"Oh, I'm so sorry! You won't hold it against me, will you?"

Ryan laughed. "Fine, I won't hold it against you. And yeah, if it weren't for the slight physical similarities between me and Sharpay, you'd never know we were related."

"Exactly. Now, I need your help."

Ryan put his hands up. "Wait a minute, Gabriella. I help you all the time and so I'm going to expect something in return for this."

"Ryan, what can I possibly give you?"

"Advice."

"Advice? Ryan, isn't that what the Guidance Counselor is for?"

Ryan shook his head. "Not that kind of advice, I need advice on _girls_."

"Oh, I get it. So, what's the problem?"

"Well, I like this girl. And I don't know if she likes me. We talk sometimes, and, well, I _really _like her."

Gabriella nodded. "Okay, but I'm not helping you unless you tell me who it is."

Ryan frowned at Gabriella, then whispered into her ear "Kelsi".

"Really, oh that's perfect!"

Earlier that week Kelsi had told Gabriella that she had a crush on Ryan.

"Why is it perfect?"

"Just…because. Okay, so you have to ask her out."

"What?! Ask her out, I can't!"

Gabriella put her hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Look, you're nice, funny, charming-ish, and um…uh…you're…uh…"

"Yeah, that's right. I'm not good looking."

"No! I mean, of course you're not good looking to me, but in the eyes of another girl, say, Kelsi? She thinks you're really, um, attractive."

"Well of course _you _don't think I'm attractive, you compare every guy you meet to the gorgeous Troy Bolton. But, do you really think Kelsi thinks I'm hot?"

"Want to know a secret?" Gabriella motioned with her finger for him to bend down, he was much taller than her. "Kelsi told me that she thinks that you're the hottest guy in the whole school, hotter than the gorgeous Troy Bolton."

Ryan smiled. "Okay, so what do you need my help for?"

"Well, I know you're a nice guy and all, but you're related to Sharpay, dirty tactics is in your blood. Help me, I need to win this."

* * *

Troy was sitting at his usual lunch table. Chad and Jason both sat down laughing.

"What's so funny?" Troy looked at Chad, who was sitting next to him.

"Aw, man. You gotta hear this about Sharpay! Okay, me and Jason were talking and Taylor ran up to us. She said that she went to get her hair done at this fancy hair salon and Sharpay was there, getting her upper lip waxed! She said that Sharpay has a mustache! I can't believe it, it's just so funny!"

Troy was laughing too. He wondered where Sharpay was crying at right now.

* * *

Sharpay sat in the Girl's Bathroom surrounded by her three Sharpettes, but she wasn't crying.

"Oh my goodness, Gabriella is just like a sock puppet! I mean, this plan'll be over in no time! She's gone from putting a good word out about herself to putting a bad word out about the competition!"

The Sharpettes all laughed. "Sharpette #1?"

The blonde Sharpette immediately stopped laughing. "Yes, Sharpay?"

"Since you are my number one Sharpette I am going to give you a privilege I have never given a Sharpette before."

The Sharpette instantly got excited, she was eager to receive her reward. "What is it, Sharpay?"

"I'm going to bring you to my house, I need your help with something. We need to push Gabriella over the edge."

* * *

Troy trudged into his house after school and went straight to the couch in front of the TV. He turned it on.

It was MTV, but they were just showing reruns of The Real World. Troy laid down and watched the roommates fight. His eyelids drooped lower…and lower…and lower.

Troy looked around. He was in the house the cast of The Real World lived in.

He was wearing jean shorts, and realized that he didn't have a shirt on. He saw one sitting on the couch, so he pulled it on.

He started to look around for anyone that might also be in the house. He walked into the kitchen and saw Gabriella standing in sweat pants and a tank top.

"Hey, Troy." She said.

"Hey, Gabi. Where's everyone else."

"Out." She simply replied.

"Where to?"

Gabriella shook her head. "I don't know."

She walked towards him. Their faces were about 3 inches away from each other. Troy tried to fight the urge to just lean down and kiss her.

"Look, Troy, there's something I need to tell you. I love you."

Troy's mouth hung open. He realized that Gabriella was leaning in so he leaned in too. Troy closed his eyes as their lips met, and Troy could feel a shiver go through him.

The kiss was amazing, and Troy was enjoying every second of it. But suddenly his feelings changed. The kiss felt wrong, and he felt disgusted to be kissing her.

He opened his eyes and was revolted to see that it was no longer Gabriella kissing him, but Sharpay. He pushed her off of him.

"Troy, what's wrong?"

Sharpay had Gabriella's voice. Troy didn't understand what was going on. "You're Sharpay!"

"What? I'm Gabriella!"

Troy stared into Sharpay's eyes and saw that they were in fact Gabriella's beautiful brown eyes. But they weren't warm and inviting like they always were. They were cold and hard, just like Sharpay's.

"But you look like Sharpay!"

Sharpay looked herself up and down. "No, I look like Gabriella."

"No, you're not her!"

"Yes I am! I am Gabriella and it's never going to change! I am like this forever!"

"YOU"RE NOT HER!!!" Troy screamed.

"Troy, Troy, TROY!"

Troy awoke to Gabriella shaking him.

"Gabriella, what are you doing here? How'd you get in my house?"

"Your mom asked me to come over, she said that you've been screaming in your sleep for the past ten minutes and she couldn't wake you up. So she called me over, I _am _the only one who can wake you up on a Saturday."

Troy put his hand to his head, that hadn't been an ordinary dream. It had felt too real. Not the part with the Real World, the part with Gabriella turning into Sharpay.

Troy's mom put her hand on his shoulder. "Troy, are you okay? You kept yelling things like 'You're not Gabriella' over and over again." She asked.

"Yeah, just a nightmare. But it's just a silly dream, right?"

His mom shook her head. "Sometimes that's true. But sometimes…well…sometimes that's not always the case."

Gabriella looked at Mrs. Bolton. "What do you mean?"

"Well, one day I had this dream where I was stuck in this tower. I was like Rapunzel but without the hair. Down below there was some sort of Carnival going on. I wanted so badly to go down to the Carnival, but I couldn't, I was stuck in the tower."

"So, what does that have to do with anything?" Troy interrupted.

"I'm not finished. Well, I wanted to go to the Carnival but couldn't. But then a man on stilts came towards me and helped me down from the tower. Before I walked off to the Carnival, I looked back and realized that the man had a basketball for a head."

Gabriella looked confused. "Um, Mrs. Bolton, not to sound rude or anything, but what does that have to do with Troy's dream?"

"Well, I kept having similar dreams, all of them including a carnival, me stuck in a tower, and that man with the basketball head. It started to freak me out, so I went to see this woman called the 'Dream Reader'. She said that at a Carnival I would be rescued. She also said that it would have to do with the man with the basketball head."

"So what happened?" Troy sat up, he wanted to know.

"Well, I went to a Carnival a week later. I was riding the swings ride when it spun out of control. They couldn't stop it, until one guy who looked about my age grabbed the lever and pulled it back. The ride stopped, and we all got off. I continued to walk around, and I saw the same guy running a basketball game. I walked over and we started talking. And that man ended up to be your father, Troy."

"So, you're saying that my dream was predicting the future?" Troy asked.

"Well, not exactly. But if you continue to have the same thing happening in every dream, I'll give you the address of the Dream Reader."

Troy laughed and got up. "I'm fine. Now, since Gabriella is here, I need to talk to her."

Troy pulled Gabriella upstairs into his room. "Have you felt similar in any way to Sharpay?"

Gabriella almost laughed, but then saw the seriousness of Troy's gaze. "No, not really. I mean, we're both running for Homecoming Queen, but that's it." Gabriella said.

Troy felt as if a ton had been lifted from his shoulders. "So, would you rather go to clown college or not go to college at all?"

Gabriella furrowed her brow. "Clown college. I'd rather have some sort of education rather than none at all. Would you rather kiss Sharpay," Troy looked as if he were about to say something smart, but then Gabriella finished her sentence. "or kiss a guy."

Troy thought for a moment, then said "Kiss Sharpay. She might be evil, but its not like kissing her will ruin my entire reputation."

They kept playing this game until Gabriella's mom called saying that she had to go home. Troy walked her down to his front door, then hugged her goodbye.

He went upstairs to go to sleep. He prayed that he wouldn't have that dream again, it was one nightmare he didn't want to come true.

* * *

Okay, yea, Sharpay is as Spongebob would say 'Every Villian is Lemons". Haha, the next chapter is called _The Dream Reader_. Oh, and the Dream Reader is different than you'd expect her to be. But I can't tell you why, it's a surprise.

Volleychic123's Review Policy: If you hated the story and want to tell me, write a review saying "Purple socks." If you loved it, then put this sentence in your review "The Enchilada was filled with Barbies so I fed it to my tissue box." Oh, and you can write as long of a review as you like, and if you don't want to put my sayings in you don't have to. Just please reveiw.


	5. The Dream Reader?

Ahh, sorry I didn't update yesterday like I said, there was a family crisis. But anyway, I'm updating today.

Okay, just so you know, I love fantasy. Like, before I joined FF, I wrote fantasy stories on Microsoft Word. So, when I originally wrote this chapter, it was fantasy to the max. But I changed it to how it is now. If you want to read the fantasy version, PM me and I'll send it to you.

My fave review goes to _LaurFoSho_, who said "Enchilada was filled with Barbies so I fed it to my tissue box!" eight times, EIGHT TIMES PEOPLE!!! Haha, woahhh.

Disclaimer: I don't own HSM. Or Microsoft Word. Scratch that, I own a version of Microsoft Word. But I'm not Bill Gates, even though his buttloads of cash are very desirable.

* * *

Chapter 5

The Dream Reader

Troy sighed. He had just finished his two hours of homework. He went to his bed and rested there. His phone started vibrating, but he didn't care, sleep was more important…

Troy was running through a field. He needed to find something, he needed to stop something. His eyes made out the silhouette of Gabriella in the distance, and he sprinted to her.

"Gabriella!" Troy heard himself say. He needed to tell her something. "Gabriella! I need to talk to you before—"

But at that moment Gabriella turned to look at him. She was smiling devilishly. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could something incredible happened.

Gabriella's long, brown locks fell off of her head. Straight, blonde hair sprouted from her scalp. It kept growing until it was halfway down her back and a diamond tiara materialized on top of her head.

Her skin became paler, and her face was changing. Her jeans and long sleeve shirt melted off, revealing a pink shirt with white letters saying "Princess" on it and a white skirt.

Her body morphed until Troy saw Sharpay standing in front of him. She still had Gabriella's brown eyes, but they were once again cold and hard.

"Hi, Troy." Sharpay also still had Gabriella's voice.

"Hey, Sharpay."

Sharpay giggled. "I'm not Sharpay, silly! I'm Gabriella!"

Troy closed his eyes and opened them again, but Sharpay was still standing in front of him. "What happened to you, you look like Sharpay!"

Gabriella/Sharpay giggled again. "No silly, I look like Gabriella!"

Troy wanted to contradict her, but before he could she pounced on him.

Troy fell to the ground and Gabriella/Sharpay fell on top of him. She giggled again. "Ooooh, I like this position!"

"Yeah, well I don't!"

Gabriella/Sharpay let out a small giggle. "Oh, but you will soon enough."

Troy opened his mouth once again to tell her off, but Gabriella/Sharpay had already covered his mouth with hers. Troy wasn't enjoying kissing her at all. He tried to push her off of him, but she was strong.

"Troy, the if your going to fight, then I'm going to fight too." Gabriella/Sharpay let out another mischievous giggle.

Troy watched her cold fingers go behind her back. He struggled to get her off of him, but he couldn't. His eyes grew wide as she pulled a shining silver dagger from behind her.

* * *

Gabriella watched Troy struggle and scream in his bed. His mom had called her to wake him up again. She had tried to awake him, but she couldn't this time. 

She felt tears in her eyes, he was angry and frustrated and devastated all at the same time. She wished she could help him.

She walked over and sat on Troy's bed.

"NO! NO! STOP! PLEASE STOP! NO! YOUR NOT GABRIELLA! SHE'D NEVER DO THIS TO ME!"

Gabriella jumped. Those were the first recognizable words Troy had yelled the whole time. She was going to have to wake him up, or at least calm him down.

She put her hand on his back, put he just screamed and whacked it away. Gabriella gasped and inspected her hand, it was throbbing. But she had more important things to deal with.

She jumped onto Troy's back and tried to hold him down. She put her head next to his ear and whispered to him. "Shhh, Troy, it's me, Gabriella. Please, calm down."

Troy stopped struggling. He began to mumble random things, and Gabriella could see the look of distress etched on his face. She closed her eyes, then screamed "TROY! WAKE UP!!!"

Troy jumped, causing Gabriella, who had still been on top of him, to fall off the bed. She landed with a thud on the ground.

_Great! _Gabriella thought. _Not only is my hand throbbing, but now I have a major headache!_

"Get away!" Troy screamed.

When he finally realized that he was awake, he looked around. He could of sworn someone had yelled to wake him up.

He look over the side of the bed and saw Gabriella lying face down on the ground. "Oh god, Gabriella, are you okay?!" Troy asked.

"I'm just waiting for the pain to stop."

Troy could barely hear her muffled reply. He leapt out of his bed and down to her side. But before he could ask her what hurt, she sat up and smiled.

"Just some minor pain, that's all."

Troy nodded and put his head against his wall.

"Troy, what was your nightmare about?"

Troy looked over at Gabriella, then put his head in his hands. "I think that you and I are going to take a trip to see the Dream Reader."

* * *

Troy and Gabriella got the address from Troy's mom, and started to walk to the house of the Dream Reader. It was only three blocks away, so driving was unnecessary. 

When they arrived they were awe-struck by the sight. There were exotic flowers planted all around the yard, and the shrubs were cut in the shape of elephants. The house was bright yellow, with a bright orange door.

Troy walked up, followed at the heel by Gabriella. He rapped the brass lion knocker on the door. It was answered by a very eccentric looking blonde woman. "Hello? How may I help you?"

The woman was wearing a dark purple dress with an olive green shawl wrapped around her shoulders. She had about a thousand necklaces hanging from her neck. From her ears hung the tips of peacock feathers. Her long, blonde hair hung down to her waist.

"Sorry, wrong house. We'll just be leaving." Troy said. He turned around to leave.

"We're here to see the Dream Reader, is she here?" Gabriella interrupted.

The woman's eyebrows rose. "Ahh, the Dream Reader. Yes, this is the place where she resides. But, first, I need a payment."

Troy pulled out his wallet. "Okay, how much do you want?"

The woman shook her head and put a hand out in front of her. "I do not yearn for anything of monetary value! The thought sickens me! I desire only one thing; a necklace."

Troy and Gabriella exchanged glances. Then Troy motioned towards the silver chain hanging from Gabriella's neck.

Gabriella sighed and took it off. She placed it into the outstretched hand of the strange woman. The woman placed it around her neck with the other necklaces, then smiled.

"Ah, now come in, come in." she beckoned.

Troy and Gabriella stepped into a large room. The walls were painted a dark green, and the floor was covered with a grand crimson rug with strange faces on it. There was a fireplace, and on the mantle were many assorted vases and china. Above the fireplace hung a potrait of a woman dressed like a gypsy.

"Sit, sit." The woman commanded.

Troy and Gabriella sat on a small couch embroidered with a very bizarre design. The woman disappeared for a moment, then came back with a tray of tea. She set it down on the dark wood table in front of them, then sat down in an armchair near the fireplace.

"My name is Ezmerelda, previously known as the Dream Reader."

Gabriella crossed her legs, then looked intently at Ezmerelda. "Previously? Doesn't that mean that you're not the Dream Reader anymore?"

Ezmerelda nodded. "It is correct to say that I am no longer the Dream Reader. I have passed the gift on to my daughter, who accepted it rather reluctantly. She is in her heinously decorated bedroom."

Troy shifted uncomfortably. "Can you, um, call her down?"

Ezmerelda smiled. "My daughter, will you please come down here and interpret the dreams of our guests?" she called.

They heard a door open and the sound of footsteps going down stairs.

They saw a very familiar face walking towards them. But her eyes were fixed on her mother, not the strangers on her couch. "Mom! Can you for once call me by my name? I have one you know, it's—"

"Kelsi?!" Troy and Gabriella both said at the same time.

Kelsi immediately froze, then backed up. "No, this…I'm not…you don't understand…it's just…"

Gabriella uncrossed her legs. "Kelsi, is this why you never let us come over your house?"

Kelsi stared at the floor, and slightly nodded her head. Troy looked closely at Kelsi, then said "Kelsi, I need you to tell me what my dream means. It's important."

Kelsi looked from Troy to Gabriella to her mom, then motioned for her mom to leave the room.

She sat in her mom's seat, then looked at Troy. "Okay, in order to interpret the meaning of your dream I need a very detailed recollection of the recurring events."

"What?"

Gabriella laughed. "Troy, she needs you to tell her the specific stuff that happens in these dreams."

Troy changed his position, then began to explain in full detail what happened in his dreams. After about ten minutes, Troy had finished his story.

Gabriella shuddered, and Kelsi sat deep in thought.

"So, um, Kelsi? Can you tell me what it means?"

Kelsi turned to look at Troy. "Well, um, it's kind of hard to see, but it does have a definite meaning."

Kelsi closed her eyes. Then, a deep voice came out of her mouth and spoke. "The warm summer will turn to cold, harsh winter, but summer always returns in due course."

Gabriella's eyes went wide, and Troy furrowed his brow trying to think of what it meant.

Kelsi snapped her eyes open. "God, I hate that! You see, whenever Dream Reader reads a dream, this thing takes over their mind and speaks for them. It's really annoying." Kelsi said, as if she were talking about school.

Gabriella and Troy said goodbye, then left. They were walking down the pathway to the sidewalk when Gabriella stopped.

"Oh, shoot! I forgot my phone!" Gabriella yelled. She quickly ran back into Kelsi's house.

Troy looked at the perfectly manicured lawns around him. He wondered why people cared about their lawns so much. But he was snapped out of his thoughts when he realized Ryan was standing on the sidewalk, staring at the house. Ryan hadn't noticed him.

"Ryan? What are you doing around here? Don't you live, like, ten minutes away?"

Ryan laughed nervously. "Yeah, well, I was in the neighborhood. Well, what are you doing outside of Kelsi's house?"

Troy looked at the house behind him. "How did you know this was Kelsi's house?"

Ryan scratched the back of his head, "Well…you see…so why are you here?"

"Oh, me and Gabriella just stopped by to, uhh, thank Kelsi for helping us so much with the musical!"

Just then, Gabriella stepped out of the door and ran to Troy's side. "I got my phone, but her mom wouldn't stop talking about—oh, hey Ryan! What are you doing here?"

Ryan's face grew red, and Gabriella just looked at him knowingly.

Gabriella's phone started ringing. "Hello?...Oh, hey mom…Yes, I'm coming home…Right now?...Mom, please…Mom!...Okay, fine." Gabriella hung up her phone. "I gotta go, you guys. I'll see you later."

Gabriella started to run away. Troy turned to Ryan. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to…I gotta go." Then Ryan also ran off.

Troy looked around. He thought about what Kelsi had said. _The warm summer will turn to cold, harsh winter, but summer always returns in due course._

He didn't understand any of it. He sighed and walked away, he had homework to do.

* * *

Sharpay sat on her bed, filing her nails as she went over her plan with her Sharpettes. All three of them were sitting uncomfortably on the floor, but each of them had a fake smile plastered onto their faces. 

"Okay girls. After this plan is over, I will be Homecoming Queen and Troy and I will fall in love on our date."

All of the Sharpettes clapped their hands.

Sharpay went to her computer, she needed something to push Gabriella way over the edge.

* * *

Okay, I really need your help people. I need a really good thing Sharpay could do to push Gabriella over the edge, but in a sneaky sort of way. Please give me ideas, PLEASE! I HAVE WRITERS BLOCK AND CAN'T UPDATE UNTIL I GET AN IDEA!!! THAT COULD TAKE WEEKS! 

Woahh, I just drank and energy drink, and I'm lethal after having one of those. I mean, last time I had one I literally jumped off a cliff. But it was into water so I didn't die. But I still jumped off of it, it was reaaaaaally high.

Volleychic123's Review Policy: If you hated it and really want to tell me, then write a review saying "Purple socks." If you loved it then put this in your review: "I got married in an underwater tobaggen made of candy corn, so I ate my sock collection!" You can write as much as you want, just include one of those in your review. But if you don't want to you don't have to.


	6. This is What They Call ‘Over The Edge’

Yay! The writers block is gone! And this chapter is really good. Well, I think it is. And if you all like this story so much, read my other one, "Thanks For That Miracle".

Oh, and all that stuff about Vanessa, it doesn't change my opinion of her. She took the pictures, but she didn't flaunt them around. She kept them private, so don't hold it against her.

The review winner for Ch 5 is...drumroll...a tie! Between PinkJelly and Choolio. PinkJelly wrote "I got married in an underwater tobaggen made of candy corn, so I ate my sock  
collection!" a gazillion times! Yeah, I counted, and its totally a gazillion.

And Choolio made me crack up, I should carry a first-aid kit in the presence of those energy drinks!

Disclaimer: I do own something from HSM. It's called "nada".

* * *

Chapter 6

This is What They Call 'Over The Edge'

Gabriella was walking home from Kelsi's house. Even though what Kelsi had said scared her, she couldn't help smiling. She knew in her gut that Ryan had gone to Kelsi's house to ask her out.

She was about to turn the corner onto her street when she heard a scream. She froze, she knew that scream. It was her mother's.

Gabriella ran full speed to her house, and rushed straight to her mother, who had a broken bag of groceries at her feet.

"Mom? Mom?"

Her mom's face was horror stricken, and she whimpered as she lifted up her hand and pointed at the house. Gabriella looked over and gasped. Her house was covered in toilet paper and eggs.

"Don't worry, mom. I'll clean this all up!" Gabriella's mother nodded her head, and Gabriella ushered her inside.

She grabbed a broom and swept up the broken groceries. She then started to take down all of the toilet paper. Two hours later, her house was spotless.

Gabriella trudged into her room and fell onto her bed. Her homework was already finished, so sleeping wasn't a problem at all…

* * *

Gabriella slammed her locker shut and started to lumber to her homeroom class. Suddenly, Sharpay appeared in front of her, blocking her path. 

"Oh, hey, Gabriella. Look, I'm so sorry about your house. I'll try to keep more control over my Sharpettes. They are just so unpredictable! Oh, and Troy was looking for you."

Gabriella fumed. She couldn't believe that Sharpay would ever sink so low.

She waved Sharpay off, then began to wander off into the direction of Troy's locker to see what he needed to say.

* * *

Troy tried to open his locker, but he kept messing up the combination. He hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, Kelsi's voice kept ringing through his ears. 

He finally opened his locker, and threw his books inside. He closed the door and jumped about six feet up. Sharpay was standing in the spot where his door had just covered.

"Hello, Troyekinns! You look SO cute today!"

Troy faked a smile. Then he got an idea. If he wanted to flirt better around Gabriella, then he could practice flirting on Sharpay. "Thanks, you look amazing."

Sharpay let out an annoying giggle, and Troy winced.

"Troy, don't flatter me! Well, okay. Flatter me!"

Troy forced out a flirty laugh. "You really do look amazing. I mean, I love your…skirt." Troy said the first article of clothing that came to his mind. What he didn't notice was that Sharpay's skirt was super short.

Sharpay noticed though. She smiled. "I thought you might like it. But you totally look cuter than I do!"

Troy gulped, and kept telling himself it was for a good cause. "No, you look way cuter than I do."

Sharpay shook her head. She put her head in her hands. "Troy, I know you don't like me. So stop pretending!"

"Look, Sharpay, I'm sorry! It's just, you know how I feel about Gabriella!"

Sharpay smiled. "Yeah, I know. Hey, Troy? Have you ever kissed a girl?"

Troy thought back on his entire life, and realized that he hadn't. "No, actually I haven't."

Sharpay tried to look as innocent as possible. "Well, I just want you to be happy. And if you're happy with Gabriella, then go for it! It's just, I've heard that she hates guys who are bad kissers."

Troy's eyes went wide. "But if I've never kissed anyone then how am I supposed to know if I'm a bad kisser?!"

Sharpay faked sympathy in her face. "I'm sorry, Troy. But fact is that all first time kissers are terrible." Troy's head dropped. "But…oh, never mind. It was a stupid idea."

Troy's head shot up. "But what?! What was a stupid idea?"

Sharpay looked at the floor. "Well, I was just thinking, that maybe if you kissed me, then I'd be able to tell you how good of a kisser you are. And maybe even give you a few pointers! Then, Gabriella won't be able to resist you."

Troy thought for a second. He never wondered why he was trusting Sharpay, but he probably should have. "Alright. I guess we can try."

Sharpay looked down at the floor again to hide her smile. Not only was she going to become Homecoming Queen, but she was going to get to kiss Troy too. She lifted her head back up. "Okay. But remember, you have to kiss back, or else I won't be able to tell if you're a good kisser or not."

Troy nodded. Sharpay started to lean into him. Troy closed his eyes and leaned in too.

When their lips touched, Troy felt a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. But he just ignored it, reminding himself that it was to win over Gabriella.

He started kissing Sharpay with all the passion he could muster, even though the feeling in his stomach was growing. He wanted to be a good kisser, and in order to find out if he was one he had to give Sharpay all the material she needed.

Troy suddenly got the feeling like he was being watched, but he just guessed that it was the students in the hallways. Sharpay eventually pulled back, and looked into Troy's eyes.

"You're an amazing kisser." She used her thumb to wipe her lip-gloss off his mouth.

And at that, Troy ran off to the bathroom, he needed to throw up. He hadn't even noticed the crying Gabriella standing right to the side of him.

* * *

Gabriella texted Taylor, saying for her to meet her in the practice band room, just because it was the only soundproof room in the school and was barely ever occupied by teachers. 

Gabriella stormed down the hallways with tears streaming down her face. She pushed all unsuspecting students out of her way. When she reached the practice band room, she slammed the door shut behind her.

Taylor looked up from the chair she was sitting in. "Hey I—oh, Gabi! What happened?!"

Gabriella screamed. "First, my homework. Then, my poster. After that, my house. And finally, THIS!!!" Gabriella broke down crying.

Taylor ran up and hugged Gabriella tightly. "Oh, Gabriella! I'm so sorry! What happened?"

Gabriella started pacing. "Sharpay happened! And sorry isn't going to get me anywhere! We need to teach Sharpay a lesson! WE NEED TO MSKE SURE SHE _NEVER _MESSES WITH MY LIFE AGAIN!!!"

Taylor jumped every time Gabriella screamed. "Well, what are we gonna do?"

Gabriella smiled. "Ohhh, we are going to set up the perfect trap! It is going to cause her serious emotional pain, and perhaps some physical pain as well!" Gabriella cackled.

Taylor began to back up. "Gabriella, you're starting to freak me out!"

"Too bad!" Gabriella snapped. What could two geniuses do to an overdramatic actress? She smiled. What could they not do?

* * *

Gabriella and Taylor were kneeling around the corner of a busy hallway. Gabriella gazed around the corner. "Quick, Sharpay's coming! Get ready!" she whispered. 

Taylor looked worried. "I dunno, isn't this kinda harsh?" She asked.

But by then it was already too late…

* * *

Sharpay was walking through a crowded hallway on her way to lunch. Her heels were making clacking noises with every step she took. Any time this week Gabriella was going to get her revenge on her, she just didn't know when. 

But it was all part of the plan. She turned around and saw Ryan far behind her, looking for someone. She immediately sped up. She faced forward again.

She did a double take. She could have sworn that she had seen Gabriella. She then realized that Gabriella must be preparing to get her payback at this moment. She closed her eyes, anticipating what was about to happen.

Her eyes jolted open when she was swung off the ground. She tried to look around for what was holding her up, but she was upside down and swinging too fast to see anything.

She screamed, she had expected Gabriella to do something mean, but not this cruel. She felt her skirt fly down, revealing her underwear.

She continued to scream, causing almost the whole school to run towards the sound. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her hair flew out of the ponytail holding it back.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, red liquid started to pour out over her body. She gasped for air as the liquid fell down. After all of it was drained, she sucked in a huge breath.

She was crying very hard now, and begging for mercy. Suddenly, she stopped spinning, and saw a smiling Gabriella walking up to her. "That'll teach you to mess with my life!"

Gabriella pressed a button in her hand, and Sharpay was released from whatever had been holding her up. She landed with a thump on the floor.

She tried to stand up, but the red liquid, which she now figured to be some sort of dye, was covering the floor. She kept slipping, and tears were still falling from her eyes.

Sharpay unexpectedly felt two strong arms pick her up and place her on her feet. She looked up and saw that none other than Troy Bolton.

She knew that he hated her, but she was so scared and devastated that she didn't care. She wrapped her arms around him and began to sob into his shirt.

Troy put his arms around Sharpay, trying to comfort her. "Gabriella! I can't believe that you would do something like this! Not even Sharpay deserved this!"

Gabriella's smile was wiped right off of her face. "B-but, she…she plotted against me!"

Troy shook his head. "So you do this?! If that's the way you are, then you're not the Gabriella I knew. If that's the way you are then…then you're not the Gabriella I loved."

Gabriella gasped. "Wh-what? You l-loved me?"

Ryan suddenly appeared in the crowd, and upon seeing her brother, Sharpay ran into his arms.

Troy put his hands down to his now red stained sides. "Yeah, that's right. I loved you. Past tense. Now, if you don't mind, I have to go fill out a missing person's report." He started to walk away.

Gabriella got confused. "For who?"

"For the Gabriella I used to know! The Gabriella that once told me that she wasn't in to the whole competition thing!" Troy called over his shoulder.

Gabriella looked around the crowd, and saw Sharpay blubbering into her brother's shirt. She saw the faces of her fellow students, all disgusted at what she did.

Her eyes went wide as she realized what she had done. She started sobbing into her hands, and fell to her knees. "WHAT HAVE I DONE?!" She cried. All of the students began to walk away.

Sharpay approached the weeping Gabriella. "G-Gabriella, I…I f-forgive you! I-it's not even y-y-your fault!" When Gabriella kept crying, Sharpay returned to her brother and the two walked away together.

Gabriella felt someone's hand on her back, and she looked up. Kelsi was standing above her. "Gabriella, you…you're the warm summer. You're the one that turns into cold, hard winter. But remember, the warm summer always returns in due course. And you did."

Gabriella stood up and hugged Kelsi. "I have to fix it all." She said.

Kelsi nodded. Gabriella looked at the floor. "Do you think I'll be able to fix things with Troy?"

Kelsi hugged Gabriella again. "Oh, Gabriella. I wish I could say yes."

And after hearing that, Gabriella started to cry again.

* * *

Oh, no! Troy seemed pretty angry. But hey, wait til next chapter, it all gets better-ish. Anyway, I totally loved all the reviews, and if you are one of those people who read but don't review, please review! 

Volleychic123's Review Policy: If you hated it and want to tell me, write a review saying "Purple socks". If you loved it and want to tell me, put this in your review "I'm using my car as a blender, so I had to take the giant, pink squirrel to work instead." Feel free to write as much as you want, and you don't have to put those sayings in your review if you don't want to.


	7. TransWHAT!

This chapter is a little shorter, but its LOADED with drama. Oh, and I love getting so many reviews from my...um...reviewers!

Okay, and I'm changing it to favorite 3 reviews, they're all so good!

1. Goes to dramalover4. I'm not gonna even try to count how many times you wrote that. Okay, I'm bored, so I will. She said it exactly 192 times, no joke. But I didn't count that, I used math. But this is the last repitition review that makes it into the top.

2. Goes to ilovetoplaybball. Yes, I do want to scream at Troy. If you are reading this, scream at Troy for ilovetoplaybball!

3. Goes to zanessafreak6. You're right, a garage door would work as a better blender. But no one takes a garage door to work. Well, I hope they don't.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from HSM.

* * *

Chapter 7

TransWHAT?!

Troy slammed the door of the Men's Locker Room shut. He sat down on a bench and put his head into his hands.

Kelsi's words rang through his ears; _The warm summer will turn to cold, harsh winter._

Troy was so upset that he didn't remember the last part of the sentence.

Gabriella was gone, and she was replaced with a cold-hearted replica. He just had to accept it. He walked into his dad's office.

"Hey, dad."

Mr. Bolton immediately looked up, hearing the sadness in his son's voice. "Son? What's wrong? What happened to your shirt?"

Troy sighed. "Gabriella's not the same anymore dad. She…she's changed a lot. She just not Gabriella anymore. Oh, and can I borrow one of the practice jerseys?"

Troy's dad got up and opened a box. He threw a red t-shirt with "Wildcats" in white letters to Troy. Troy quickly took of his shirt and pulled the other one over his head.

"Look, son. About Gabriella, people change, but Gabriella, she…well…I think you should find out for yourself." Troy's father looked down.

Troy said goodbye to his father and left. He couldn't ignore the feeling in his heart. It felt like the love of his life had just been brutally murdered.

* * *

Gabriella was sitting on a park bench, crying. On the bench across from her were Ryan and Kelsi. 

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Ryan asked.

Kelsi shook her head. "She loved Troy. She still does. She even told me that every time she sees him she falls harder and harder. If he asked her to marry him right now, she would get up and do it."

Ryan sighed. "Look, Kelsi. There's something I need to tell you." Kelsi turned to look at Ryan. They sat gazing into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity until Kelsi finally replied.

"Yes?" She said.

Ryan looked away from her eyes. "It's just…it's nothing."

Kelsi looked slightly disappointed. She opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment a loud sob was emitted from Gabriella's mouth. Both Ryan and Kelsi looked over at her.

"You two don't understand! If you love someone you've got to flat out tell them, because you never know if it's going to be ripped away from you! You both love each other, so stop acting like you don't and cherish it before you lose your chance! Don't make the mistake I did!" Gabriella half-screamed half sobbed.

Ryan and Kelsi looked awkwardly at each other, then quickly turned their heads away. Ryan looked down, Kelsi would never love him.

He got up to leave when he felt someone's slender fingers grab his wrist. He turned around and saw Kelsi standing up to face him.

The next few seconds were a blur to him, but all he knew was that Kelsi's lips were on his. He immediately began to kiss back. He wrapped his arms around her and swung her around, never breaking the kiss.

* * *

Gabriella watched the new couple kissing and started crying even harder. That could have been her. 

Why had she let Sharpay get to her?

Sharpay had already apologized almost a thousand times, and Gabriella had apologized twice that amount. Sharpay and her weren't best friends now, but they both had an understanding of each other.

She got up, not wanting to ruin the moment for Ryan and Kelsi. She began to walk home.

After Homecoming, her life could start over new. Maybe she would meet a new guy.

She sighed, and silently told herself that it was a good idea to not make her decision public, she had only told Taylor.

* * *

The next day, the day of the Homecoming ceremonies, Troy was in a very bad mood. He still felt empty and sad. But suddenly he was confronted with a mass of dark bushy hair. 

"Hey, Chad." Troy mumbled.

"Look, Troy, there's a serious problem."

Troy just ignored him and kept walking.

"It has to do with Gabriella." Chad added.

At the sound of her name, Troy spun around to face Chad. He might loathe her, but he still wanted to know what was wrong.

"I already know that Gabriella was slaughtered and her body is now inhabited with the devil." Troy spat.

He kept trying to convince himself that his heart was pounding so hard against his chest because of hatred, but in his gut he knew it wasn't true.

Chad groaned. "Dude! Will you please stop hating her for one second and listen to me?! Gabriella dropped out of the running!"

Troy stood frozen to the spot as he digested the information. "B-but there wasn't an announcement. There's always an announcement when someone drops out!"

Chad shook his head. "She begged the Principal not to announce it. It was posted on a sheet of paper in the office."

Troy shook his head. "So what? She dropped out. Big whoop. That doesn't mean she's the old Gabriella again."

"Yeah, but this does." Chad pulled out a small pink book and handed it to Troy.

"What's this?" Troy asked, looking over the cover.

"It's Gabriella's diary. She dropped it, I was gonna give it back, but…I got curious."

Troy laughed a little, then focused his attention back to the diary. "So, what did she write?"

Chad ushered for Troy to follow him into an empty classroom nearby. He then sat on a desk.

"Well, it starts off with her talking about some ski lodge and singing with some 'total cutie'. Then she talks about starting a new school, you, musicals, you, new friends, you, and um, a lot more about you. Then she started writing about how she thought she was falling for you and everything. Then towards the end she starts talking about how she's positive she's in love with you. And then…and then I found this entry."

Chad took the diary from Troy and flipped to a certain page. He handed it back to Troy. Troy looked down and started to read.

_Dear Diary,_

_I'm a jerk. Not only am I a jerk but I'm also a terrible person. I did something terrible to Sharpay. I really don't like her, but she didn't deserve what I did._

_I'm not going to go into details, I can't bring myself to explain it. And now Troy hates me. I don't think I can live with it anymore. That's why I'm making the decision I've been thinking about. I'm not going to tell you what it is, just in case someone gets a hold of you._

_But, I don't think I can survive at East High without Troy for much longer. For example, we were learning about the Greeks and everything in History. When they mentioned the city of Troy, I broke down crying._

_I feel disgusted that I would do something so cruel to Sharpay, and my only friends are the ones that have forgiven me. But personally, I don't think I deserve their forgiveness._

_And the worst part is that I know that Troy will never forgive me. I don't blame him. But I wouldn't care if everyone in the world hated me, just as long as he loved me. Tough luck for Gabi._

_Love you, xoxo_

_Gabriella_

Troy felt his stomach churn. He read through the diary entry eight more times, then turned to Chad. "Well, that sounded like the old Gabriella to me. But what does she keep talking about, 'her decision'?"

Chad looked down at the floor. "Well, I asked Taylor about that one, and she reluctantly told me. Gabriella…" Chad paused to glance up at Troy, "…she's transferring schools."

Troy felt a knot in his throat. He had just realized that the Gabriella he loved was back, and now she was leaving.

Chad noticed the hurt on his best friend's face, and instantly tried to console him. "Maybe she can back out, you never know."

Troy shook his head. "She explained the whole thing to me before. Once the papers are signed, the transfer is legally binding. It would be illegal to back out." **(A/N I don't really know if that's true, but pretend that in this story it is.)**

Chad immediately jumped up. "That's perfect!"

Troy looked incredulously at his friend. "Dude, how in any conceivable way can the love of my life LEAVING my life be perfect?"

Chad smiled. "Cause that's the thing. According to Taylor, Gabriella's mom and the principal both signed the papers. And now the only one left to sign them is Gabriella. But she's not signing them until _after_ the Homecoming ceremonies!"

Troy froze for a second, then leaped towards the door. "I gotta find Gabriella!" He yelled.

* * *

Gabriella sat in her room and sighed. Tonight would be the last time she'd ever wear East High's red colors. In a few hours, she wouldn't be a Wildcat anymore, she'd be a Knight. 

She was wearing jean Capri's and a red t-shirt saying "Wildcats" in white and gold. In her hand was Troy's basketball sweatshirt, which she decided to keep so she could always have some memory of Troy.

She had on red flip-flops, and her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. Around the hair band she had tied a gold ribbon.

She checked her make up, and then walked out of her house. When she arrived at the Wildcat's football game, it had already started. She paid the $3 entrance fee and entered the stadium.

She found Taylor easily, she had been waiting for her at the main gate. They started to walk away when Gabriella heard her name being called. She turned around to see Troy Bolton running towards her.

She turned to Taylor and signaled for them to go faster. She didn't want Troy Bolton to make transferring harder than it already was.

In a flash, Troy saw Gabriella disappear into the sea of red. He had to stop her from that signing that transfer document.

* * *

Troy just has to stop Gabriella, he has to! Haha, okay, so yeah. This story is nearing the end of its life. Boohoo, I'll attend the memorial service. Pfft. Like they have a memorial service for a story. But if they did, would you go to it? 

**Volleychic123's Review Policy:** If you hated it and would like to tell me write a review saying "Purple socks". If you loved it put this into your review: "I'm Staple White. When the witch gave me the poisoned apple, I turned into a staple gun. What prince kisses a staple gun?" Yea, that one is kind of long. But anyway, you can write as much as you want, just include that in your review. And you don't have to if you don't want to.


	8. Drop That Pen!

Ahhhh, so much homework. I could die. But I won't cause then you guys wouldn't be able to finish the story.

Okay, there were so many good reviews that this time there is a top 5:

1. Goes to all you guys (linklover26, Choolio, Desiree Lemmon) who agreed to going to the memorial service. Thanks to you guys, I'm going to have one. Not a physical one, but the last chapter will be the memorial service.

2. Goes to DramaDork21. Omg, i could not stop laughing. He/she not only explained _why _a prince wouldn't kiss a staple gun, but was like "RUN, TROY, RUN!".

3. Goes to marebear11 for making me crack up. She was all "PICK UP THE PACE BOLTON!"

4. Goes to Desiree Lemmon because she not only said she'd go to the memorial service, but she also said that she'd wear all black, bring a box of tissues, and write a eulogy (can someone tell me what that is?).

5. Goes to ilovetoplaybball for turning me on to the phrase tre' cute. I mean, I just love the way it sounds!

Disclaimer: Yes. I yesterday I bought HSM. And the same day I invented the space shuttle and microwave popcorn.

* * *

Chapter 8

Drop That Pen!

Troy ran into the crowd, searching for Gabriella. He kept thinking he saw her, but it would always turn out that it wasn't her.

"Gabriella!" He called, but no one could hear him. He scanned the crowd once again, but she was nowhere in sight.

He ran up to the Snack Bar, where Chad was working.

"Hey, dude. Have you seen Gabriella?"

Chad just shook his head. But a girl suddenly passed Troy with dark wavy locks coming off her head. He ran after her.

"Gabriella!"

She turned around. Troy grabbed her arm and pulled her under the bleachers. "Gabriella, I need to talk to you."

Gabriella looked at the ground, she knew that if she looked into Troy's eyes she'd never be able to sign that transfer form.

"Look, Troy. I can't talk. I have other things I need to do."

Troy shook his head. "No! I need to talk to you now! You dropped out of the running for Queen!"

"Yeah, Troy. I felt bad. Plus, Queen isn't me. But I have to go." Gabriella turned to leave, but Troy grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Gabriella, look at me! Please!"

Gabriella looked at his face, but focused her view on his chin.

"Gabriella, please look into my eyes!"

Gabriella shook her head. "Troy, I really have to go."

"Gabriella, please just listen to me! You don't understand!"

"No, Troy. I understand completely. You don't love me anymore, and I've found a way to deal with that!" Gabriella got loose of his grip and ran back into the crowd of people.

Troy ran after her, trying to spot her in the hundreds of people. He accidentally ran into Ryan, who was holding hands with Kelsi.

"Hey, guys. Have you seen Gabriella?"

Both of them shook their heads. "I have to find her!" Troy screamed.

Ryan and Kelsi exchanged glances. "You're right, Kelsi." Ryan said.

Troy looked from one of them to the other. "What do you mean, she's right? She didn't say anything."

Ryan laughed, and then looked at Troy. "Well, when you're in love you kind of can tell what the other is thinking just by looking at them."

"Yeah, and now I'll never have that!" Troy yelled.

Ryan and Kelsi both looked confused. "Troy, what are you talking about?"

"Look, I can't tell you! But it's serious!"

"Well, then go take care of it!" Kelsi ushered for him to keep moving.

Troy said goodbye, then ran off again. He bumped into Zeke, who was staring off into the distance.

"Zeke?"

Zeke was brought out of his trance. "Oh, hey Troy."

"What were you looking at?"

Zeke didn't hear him though, because he was transfixed again. Troy followed his line of view and saw that he was staring at Sharpay.

"Zeke."

Zeke looked back at Troy. "Oh, sorry, you know…she's so pretty. I mean…the lights, they're very pretty."

Troy just laughed and walked away. He saw the principal of East High, and ran over.

The principal studied Troy's face, and then spoke up. "Mr. Bolton, can I help you?"

"Yeah, I'd like to withdraw myself from the running."

The principal laughed. "Troy, there is no longer a running. Yesterday was the last voting day."

"Yeah, well I'm withdrawing from the competition then. But don't tell anyone, I want Ryan or Zeke to think that they won by themselves."

The principal nodded. "If you will excuse me, I have some issues to resolve."

The principal walked away, and Troy continued his search.

He saw the cheerleaders; they always watched people go by and judged their outfits.

He ran up to them. "Hey, have you guys seen Gabriella?"

Most of the cheerleaders shook their heads, but one nodded. It was a new cheerleader that no one knew and had no friends.

"Well? Where is she?" Troy frantically cried.

The cheerleader walked up to him. She looked him in the eye. "I know where she is, I just need a favor." She said in a low voice, so that none of the other cheerleaders could hear.

"Anything." He whispered back.

The cheerleader looked at her feet, and then looked back into Troy's eyes. "Well, as you might notice none of the other cheerleaders really like me. But I was thinking that if someone like Troy Bolton kissed me on the cheek, then they'd talk to me. And, I know you are like totally in love with Gabriella, but it's just a kiss on the cheek." She quietly told him.

Troy thought for a second, and then nodded his head. She smiled then backed up.

"Alright, Bolton. I tell you where Montez is. Just one thing."

Troy tried to look like he was considering it. "Anything, I'll do it."

The cheerleader smiled. "Okay, then. Kiss me on the cheek."

Troy acted surprised. Then he ushered the cheerleader over to him. He kissed her on the cheek, and she smiled again.

"Okay. I saw that Gabriella girl down by the Snack Bar with that girl from the Scholastic Decathlon team. And I'm Gracie, by the way."

Troy smiled, and then ran off.

Meanwhile, the other cheerleaders were complimenting Gracie on her gregariousness.

* * *

Gabriella had been thinking of Troy. She decided that she should probably talk to him, just to tell him about the transfer.

So she left Taylor and began to search for him. She finally spotted him along the fence, talking to one of the cheerleaders.

She was about to call his name when she saw him lean in and kiss the cheerleader on the cheek.

She fumed, why hadn't she ever noticed how much of a player he was? She stormed away to go find Taylor.

She eventually saw Taylor standing at the Snack Bar, flirting with Chad. She ran up, clasped her hand around Taylor's wrist, and pulled her away.

Taylor immediately saw the hurt and anger on her best friends face. "Oh my god, Gabriella! What's wrong?"

Gabriella turned around to face the field. "Forget after the game, I'm gonna go sign those papers right now!" She cried. She then spun around and started to look for the principal of West High, who was supposed to meet her there with the papers.

* * *

Taylor ran around the stadium, looking for Troy. She saw him walking in circles around the Snack Bar.

"Troy!" She screamed.

Troy looked up and saw Taylor running his way. Troy began to run to her.

"Taylor? Where's Gabriella?"

Taylor's eyes filled up with tears. "You have to stop her, Troy. You're the only one who can. Please, I don't want to lose my best friend!"

"What do you mean?"

Taylor started to sob even harder. "She just left to go sign the papers, she might of already signed them by now!"

Troy shook his head. "No…she can't of. The game's not over yet!"

Taylor lifted up her hands and wiped her tears away. "Well, she didn't tell me why. But she was mumbling, and I heard her say, 'Troy', 'player', 'kiss', and 'cheerleader'."

Troy smacked himself in the head with his hand. "Oh god, I am an idiot." He then looked back up at Taylor. "Don't worry, I'll stop her."

Troy sprinted to the bleachers, and then ran up them. At the top, he searched the whole stadium. He saw someone in red on the West High part of the stadium talking to a tall man, but he couldn't tell if was Gabriella or not.

Suddenly, a pair of binoculars were in front of his face. "What?" He said, grabbing the binoculars. He looked down and saw Sharpay standing two steps below him.

"I felt bad about everything. So I want to apologize. And also, for years I expected that if we kissed there'd be tons of sparks, but when I kissed you there was…nothing."

Troy smiled. "Thanks, Sharpay." He then put the binoculars up to his eyes. He saw that it was in fact Gabriella, and to his horror the man she was talking to was holding out a piece of paper to her.

He dashed down the steps and ran towards her, he was almost too late.

* * *

"And now all you have to do is sign here, and you'll start school at West High on Monday." The principal held out a paper and pen.

Gabriella's trembling hands grabbed the paper. She then took the pen, and touched it to the paper. She slowly started to write her name, some hope in the back of her head that she wouldn't have to do this.

But she pushed the thought out of her head. _G…a…b…r…i…e…l…_

"Drop that pen!"

Gabriella looked up and saw Troy Bolton running towards her. She stopped writing.

"Gabriella, please! Don't sign your name there. Taylor, she doesn't want to lose you as a friend. And Sharpay will die without the competition. And…and I can't bear to go to East High without you. I-I love you."

Gabriella smiled. She dropped the pen.

The principal of West High looked between the two. "Miss Montez, may I warn you that a simple romance is not a very good reason to stay at East High. You're mother would be disappointed in you also. Plus, here at West High we have a wonderful scholarship program."

Gabriella looked from the principal to Troy. She opened her mouth to speak, but at that moment, the announcer's voice rang through the stadium.

"Hello East High! Now is the time for an East High tradition! All lights will be turned off for 30 seconds, and if you are with the one you love then that is the time to kiss them. But if you are an unlucky single, then we ask you to shine the lights of your cell phones for all to see! 5…4…3…2…1!" **(A/N Thanks to ****kissmuah93**** for that one!)**

The lights turned off, and it was pitch black. Troy saw tiny lights popping up all around the stadium. He strained his eyes to see Gabriella in the darkness, but it was impossible to see anything.

Slowly, the lights turned back on. When Troy's eyes adjusted to the light, he turned to Gabriella.

She was standing with the pen in her hand, tears in her eyes. The principal was standing next to her.

Troy fell to his knees. "Why Gabriella? Why are you doing this to me? Why?" His voice was cracking.

Gabriella looked at him, and began to laugh. Troy felt his heart sink.

* * *

THIS IS NOT THE END! Hahaha, yeah, its not. Okay, please review. I want to get to 100 reviews, and I already have 83. Please, review.

Volleychich123's Review Policy: If you hated it and would like to tell me write a review saying "Purple socks". If you loved it then put this in your review. "The eggs were rotten, so I washed the computer with olive oil instead." You don't have to put that in your review if you don't want to, and you can write as much as you want.


	9. Read This!

Okay guys, I hate to be one of those authors that make Author's Notes in the middle of the story, and I also hate to be one of those people that demand a certain amount of reviews before they update, but I have NINETY-NINE reviews!!!

I AM ONE AWAY!!! **So the 100th reviewer gets put as #1 in the Favorite Reviews and will be mentioned in the "If you loved it put this in your review" thing**. Okay, and that's a pretty nice prize.

And the next chapter comes either tonight or tomorrow, and review now because I'm removing this Author's Note then and replacing it with the real chapter. But the only problem is that all of you who get Alerts when my story is updated won't get an Alert if I just fix something in the chapter. **So you vote, should I post the next chapter as a new chapter so that you guys can get an Alert or should I just replace the words in this chapter and have you guys not get an Alert?**

**And P.S. Here's a little info about the next chapter to tide you over. The Homecoming King and Queen get announced, we visit Sharpay's house, and we figure out WHY GABRIELLA IS LAUGHING! Her laughing is bugging a lot of reviewers, and in like the 5th sentence of the chapter she explains why she's laughing. I can't tell you the name of the chapter because is kind of gives away the answer to the cliffhanger I gave you guys.**

So review to read the wonderful prizes!


	10. I Bet You Want Your Pen Back

Okay, by far the longest chapter I've ever written. Most of you voted for me to make this as a new chapter. And I got 100 reviews! (short break for mini party) Okay, so it was kind of funny how all of you reacted to Gabriella laughing.

Okay, here's the Top 5:

1. Goes to karen0474 for being the 100th reviewer! Yay!

2. Goes to Desiree Lemmon, I swear, she is like my biggest fan. She said that this story deserves a nationwide service on TV, and I was like woahhhh.

3. Goes to happyday3, can you put that song on iTunes?

4. Goes to PinkJelly, omg I read that whole thing and laughed so hard, except for the crying part, don't cry.

5. Goes to marebear11, your review made me laugh.

Disclaimer: I don't own HSM, or iTunes.

* * *

Chapter 9

I Bet You Want Your Pen Back

Gabriella kept laughing, and Troy felt like he was going to die. "Gabriella, please. Just…stop laughing at me."

Gabriella looked up at Troy, and her laughter was mixed with tears. "Troy, I'm not laughing because I think it's funny, I'm laughing because I'm happy. I'm happy that you love me that much!"

Troy began to stand up. "What? B-but you signed the paper!"

Gabriella laughed again. "No, I just picked up the pen!"

Troy immediately smiled. "So, you're not transferring?"

Gabriella laughed even harder. "No! Why would I do that? The only reason I was transferring was because I thought that you hated me, and I just found out that it's the exact opposite!"

After hearing that, Troy started laughing too. Gabriella walked over to Troy and put her head on his chest. Troy wrapped his arms around her.

They were both laughing together, but were interrupted by the principal of West High. "Like I said, Miss Montez. A simple romance is no reason to not switch schools!"

Gabriella turned her head to look at him, staying in Troy's warm embrace. "You're right; a simple romance is a stupid reason to stay at East High. But that's exactly it. This isn't a simple romance."

"And what, may I ask, is it?"

Gabriella smiled. "It's love."

Troy and Gabriella both leaned in until their lips met. Gabriella slid her arms around Troy's neck. Troy cupped Gabriella's face with his hand and deepened the kiss.

After about two minutes, they pulled apart. "Wow." Troy said.

Gabriella's smile got bigger. "I feel a little dizzy."

She took Troy's hand in hers, and they walked away together.

"Oh, wait a second!" Gabriella stopped walking.

"What? You're not getting second thoughts, are you?! Because I swear, I'll take you out to dinner tomorrow night! And I'll pay for you to have a spa day! And I'll go to every Scholastic Decathlon competition of yours! I'll even help you with your Calculus homework, even though you know I hate it!"

Gabriella laughed and pulled the pen out of her pocket. "I forgot to give this back."

Troy's face got red. "Oh, ummm, I knew that."

Gabriella laughed and kissed Troy again. "It's okay. And plus, those offers sounded really appealing."

Troy smiled.

Gabriella turned and ran back to the principal of West High with Troy following at her heels.

"Miss Montez, would you like to sign the form now?"

Gabriella shook her head. "No, but I bet you want your pen back." She said, showing him the pen the he had given her.

"Ah, yes. Will you please give it to me?"

"No." She said matter-of-factly.

"No?" The principal asked.

"Yes, no."

"What?" Troy and the principal said at the same time.

"I'm keeping the pen, to remind me to never transfer schools again." She explained.

"Well, fine. I hope you know that you're missing out on a great opportunity." The principal replied arrogantly.

"Oh, yes. There aren't many things I can think of that would be better than having you as my principal. Let me think, covering myself with honey and walking into a bee farm, wrestling a bear with rabies, trying to cut my arm off with a spoon, kissing an old man, and ummm, ooh being lost in the desert with my only food being potato chips!" Gabriella smiled bitter-sweetly.

She and Troy walked away together, laughing at the look on the principal's face.

* * *

Troy and Gabriella were sitting in the last row of the bleachers. The were sharing the same red wildcat blanket. It had gotten very cold, so they were cuddled together. 

Every few minutes they would share a quick kiss. They watched the rest of the football game, waiting for Homecoming King and Queen to be announced.

The buzzer went off, and the whole crowd cheered. The Wildcats had won once again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats. We are now going to announce the winners for Homecoming King and Queen!"

Everyone cheered even louder. They all took their seats and waited.

"Okay, the winner of Queen by default is…Sharpay Evans!"

Sharpay walked onto the field wearing a knee length black skirt, a black shimmery top, and a white blazer. The announcer put the crown on her head.

"And who is the King to accompany this beautiful Queen? Well, why don't we have the Queen announce it?"

The announcer handed Sharpay his card and the microphone. "The winner of King is…Zeke Baylor!"

Everyone clapped, and Zeke walked onto the field in an all black suit. He had the crown put on his head.

"And this lovely Homecoming Court wins an all expense paid date at Lava Springs Country Club!"

The crowd cheered even louder. Everyone started to file out of the stadium.

"Well, girlfriend. May I walk you home?" Troy put out his arm for Gabriella.

"No." Gabriella said.

Troy looked hurt, and she laughed. "I am NOT walking home when it's this cold. We'll get a ride from Zeke."

Troy nodded.

Troy and Gabriella waited for Zeke, who had to get a certificate from the principal of East High before he left. He eventually came walking towards them, with Sharpay next to him.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" Zeke asked.

"Oh, we need a ride, Gabriella's cold. So cold that her lips turned blue."

"But, her lips aren't blue now." Sharpay pointed out.

"Well, yeah. That's because we warmed them up by ki—yeah, we need a ride." Troy said, his red cheeks turning even redder.

"Oh, okay. Sharpay's riding home with me too." Zeke said.

"But, doesn't Ryan have a car?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, yeah. But uhhh…my mom…wants…pictures of…me and Zeke. So I have to get a ride from him." Sharpay nervously laughed.

"Well, okay then." Troy said, and they all headed towards Zeke's car.

* * *

Sharpay sat in the front seat of Zeke's car. Troy and Gabriella were in the back, making out. She could tell by the smacking noise they made every once in a while. 

She looked over at Zeke, who was driving. She didn't know why she had made an excuse to ride in his car with him, she just did.

She looked at Zeke's face. He was definitely a handsome man. He was also very popular, and very nice.

Zeke turned and smiled at her. Sharpay felt her heart flip. She immediately told herself not to like him. He wasn't interested in her; none of the guys were interested in the Ice Princess.

She sat back in her seat, closed her eyes, and sighed.

She liked the feeling of being in a car with Zeke, it just felt…right. Aside from the couple in the back with their faces glued together.

As if he had read her mind, Zeke acknowledged the kissing couple. "Hey, do you guys ever come up for air, or do you just hold your breaths for a really long time. Because if you do, you should try out for the swim team."

Both Troy and Gabriella stopped kissing immediately, their faces bright red.

"Oh, don't worry. I don't mind you kissing; I was just worried about your health. It's dangerous not to breathe. But please, continue."

Troy smiled, and he and Gabriella started kissing again.

Sharpay looked at them, and wished that she could kiss Zeke like that. She quickly shoved the thought away, reminding herself that Zeke didn't like her like that.

They finally arrived at Troy's house, and both Troy and Gabriella got out of the car.

"Oh, Gabriella, don't you want us to give you a ride home?" Zeke asked.

Gabriella's face turned red. "Oh, um, no. Troy and I are gonna tell his parents that we're dating now, and then they can just drive me home."

Zeke nodded. "Was this before or after he stared to try to suck your face off?"

Gabriella's face got even redder.

"Oh, Gabriella. You know Zeke is just kidding." Sharpay said.

"Yeah, I was joking around. I don't have a problem with you guys dating; it was just a little funny."

Gabriella smiled, and she and Troy walked into his house.

Zeke turned to Sharpay. "So, where do you live?"

"Uhh, 234 East Walnut D-Drive." She spit out.

Zeke nodded, and began to drive towards that street. Sharpay could've sworn that he was driving slower than before, but she just guessed that she was just seeing things.

"So, we're King and Queen." Zeke said, and let out a chuckle.

"Y-yea."

Sharpay wanted to smack herself for stuttering so much.

"So, Gabriella and Troy. I thought it wouldn't happen after what she did to you."

Sharpay nodded. "Look, Zeke. It's my fault that she did that. I don't want you to change your view on Gabriella. I sort of set her up. Well, not sort of. I did set her up. I hope it doesn't change your opinion on me, though."

Zeke laughed. "Sharpay, I like that you're a schemer. I don't hold it against you."

Sharpay smiled. She told herself that Zeke wasn't saying that he liked her more than a friend. But that was one of the things she liked in a guy, that he likes her scheming ways. She also wanted one of those guys that would worship her, and would always be there when she wanted him to be.

Zeke turned onto Sharpay's street. He was surprised when he saw how enormous her house was. It was actually an estate.

"Whoa, this is your house?"

"Yeah, my family is kind of wealthy. Let me go get my mom."

Sharpay reached for the door handle, but was surprised when the door opened for her. She got out, and realized that Zeke had opened it for her.

"I'll just be a moment." She said.

She ran into her house. She couldn't find her mother, but she saw their butler, Jacques.

"Jacques! Where is my mother?" Sharpay called.

"Ahh, Miss Evans! She is in the dining hall."

Sharpay ran through the large oak doors to her left. "Mom, I need you to take pictures of me and Zeke, we're the Homecoming King and Queen."

Her mother looked up from her meal. "Oh, but sweetie. We don't need any photographs!"

"But mommy! I told him you wanted to so he'd drive me home! If you don't come and take the pictures he'll know that I was lying!" She cried.

Her father look confusedly at her mother, but her mom understood completely.

"Okay sweetie." She said, getting up from the table.

"Jacques! Bring me the camera!" Her mother called. The butler soon emerged from the left with a very expensive pink camera.

They both walked out of the oak double doors of the house.

"Sorry, Zeke. My mom couldn't find the camera!" Sharpay said, making up an excuse.

"Well, when you're house is that big I can see that losing something would be quite a problem!" Zeke laughed.

Sharpay's mom was still fairly young, so she understood what Sharpay would want her to do.

"Alright. You two go in front of that rosebush right there, Ah, good!" She said, clicking the camera.

"Why don't you guys do something cute, like put your arms around each other!"

Sharpay smiled, she knew what her mother was doing.

"Ooh, that's good! Sharpay, kiss him on the cheek, that'd be a really cute shot!"

Sharpay leaned up and kissed Zeke on the cheek. Her mother took the picture.

"Um, one more. I want you two to get very close, and look straight into each other's eyes. Ooh, exactly! Oh, wait, something's wrong with the camera! This will only take a second! Just stay in that pose!" Mrs. Evans lied.

Sharpay looked into Zeke's eyes. She got very lost in them, and could feel her heart beating uncontrollably. Zeke was close enough to kiss her.

In her mind, she wished that he would. Suddenly, Zeke started to lean in. Sharpay began to lean in also. His lips were so close; she couldn't wait to feel them on hers.

"Aha! I got it!"

Sharpay mentally cursed her mother's bad timing.

"Okay, so go back into that pose. Aaaaand…perfect!" Her mom yelled, taking the picture.

Sharpay looked up at Zeke, and realized that they were still extremely close.

"Oh, um…uh…I better go inside now, it is pretty cold." Sharpay said.

Zeke seemed to be brought out of a trance. "Oh, yea. Okay, see you tomorrow, on our _date_."

Sharpay smiled. "See you tomorrow!" She called.

She watched Zeke climb into his car, and then spun around to face her mom.

"Mom! He was about to kiss me and you interrupted!" Sharpay screamed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry sweetie! I had no idea!"

Sharpay was about to yell again, but at that moment Ryan's car pulled into their long driveway.

Her mother marched over. "Honey, where have you been?"

"Oh, um, I was with Kelsi." Ryan said, smiling sheepishly.

"Well what were you doing with Kelsi?" His mother demanded. But Sharpay had inched over to her and gave her a look.

"Mom! Kelsi is Ryan's _girlfriend_." She whispered.

Mrs. Evan's face immediately softened. "Oh, my little Ry Bread is all grown up!"

Ryan rolled his eyes at his childhood nickname, and darted up into the house.

* * *

Troy was lying in his bed, thinking of Gabriella. He couldn't believe how lucky he had gotten. Suddenly, his phone began to ring. 

"Hello?"

"Guess who?" Gabriella's voice chimed over the other end.

"Hey, Gabi. Why'd you call? It's like, two in the morning."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you trying to sleep, because I'm so sorry if I woke you up, really. I'll just call back later."

"No! No, I wasn't sleeping. I couldn't sleep, I was thinking of you." Troy felt his face grow hot.

"Haha, same here. Not about myself, but you."

Troy smiled.

"Hey, Gabriella? Do you think I'm a terrible kisser?" He asked.

"No, I think you're the most amazing kisser in the whole entire world. Why?"

"Oh, just cause. Hey, I think my dad's coming! I gotta go!"

Gabriella sighed disappointedly. "Okay, bye, Troy."

"Oh, wait!"

"What?" Gabriella asked.

"I love you."

"I love you, too. Bye, Troy."

"Bye, Gabriella."

Troy quickly hung up his phone and pretended to be asleep. His door opened and he felt someone sit on his bed.

"Troy, I know that you're awake." His dad said.

Troy sat up.

"Hey, dad. Sorry that I'm still awake."

His dad laughed. "Look, I know how you feel about Gabriella."

"Of course you do, dad. We told you that we're dating."

"No, not that you're dating. I met you're mother in high school too, at a carnival. I was—"

"She told me the story, dad." Troy interrupted.

"Well, anyway, I know what it's like." His father smiled.

"Know what what's like?" Troy asked.

"Being in love."

Troy smiled. His dad walked out of the room. Troy reached for his phone again.

"Drop the phone and go to sleep!" His father called.

Troy chuckled. He closed his eyes and thought of Gabriella. He smiled; the feeling of her lips on his was better than he ever could have imagined.

Before he knew it, he was asleep.

* * *

Okay, so yeah, Gabriella wasn't being cruel. And now there's some sweet Zekepayness. Okay, there's only a few chapters left, but I will make them as romantic and drama filled as I can. Like, it's kind of hard, but I need to please my reviewers. 

Volleychic123's Review Policy: If you hated it and want to tell me, write a review saying "Purple socks". If you loved it put this in your review: "I used the ckicken as a baseball glove so I had to go to the swimming pool to get dinner, where I swam into karen0474." You can write as much as you want, just put that in your review. And if you don't want to put it in there then you don't have to.


	11. The King and Queen of Lava Springs

Okay, sorry about not updating so fast, I'm usually really good with that.

It's just that I could probably drown in all the homework I have. Actually, I was drowning in it. But when I was drowning I was like, "Just think of all of those people on that are addicted to your story, you can't let them down!". So then I pulled a Rocky and got up and kicked my homework's butt. But then I had to explain to my teacher why there were foot marks on my homework, and you can guess how that one went.

And also, theres no Troyella in this chapter, it's all Zekepay. But the next chapter is packed with Troyella.

Top 6 Reviews:

1. Goes to PinkJelly, I really did read that whole thing. I personally love random phrases, if you hadn't already noticed. I mean, I mentioned candy corn, marriage, tabboganning (sp?), water, and sock collections all in one sentence. Bit PinkJelly mentioned that and like ten other things in her review.

2. Goes to linklover26. It makes me feel really good how much you love this story.

3. Goes to happyday3. That mental picture of Troy with a vaccuum face made me laugh, and she also said that this should be in a movie. I can't help it, I love these huge, enormous compliments I'm getting. Well, maybe they're not that big, but they are to me.

4. Goes to Bright Starlight. Ry Duck Bread, I'll remember that. And the chicken was one of the living dead, so that makes it even weirder.

5. Goes to LaurFoSho, your physic powers creep me out. You should have a show called "That's So LaurFoSho". That was a lame joke, I know.

6. Goes to marebear11. Troy does have some nice lips.

Disclaimer: I aint't got nuthin from HSM. Wow, I really hate bad grammar. I know, I'm a dork.

* * *

Chapter 11

The King and Queen of Lava Springs

"Jacques! Where is my dress?" Sharpay screamed.

Her butler ran into the room. "Miss Evans, you have a great deal of dresses, you must be more specific." He requested.

"It's my pink one!" Sharpay said.

"Pardon me, Miss Evans, for asking, but what designer made it, and could you perhaps give me better description than 'pink'." Jacques pleaded.

"Well, it was personally designed for me, but the designer has requested to remain anonymous. But it's pink, knee length, and strapless. If that helps." Sharpay smiled.

Jacques nodded, and walked into Sharpay's enormous closet. He came out a few minutes later with the same dress Sharpay had described.

"Perfect." Sharpay sang.

Jacques layed the dress down on Sharpay's bed. "Do you want me to call Stella for hair and make up?" He asked her.

"No, I'm going to do it all myself on the biggest night of my life! OF COURSE I WANT YOU TO CALL STELLA!" Sharpay barked.

Jacques ran out of the room. Sharpay sat down in her chair and inspected herself in the mirror. Was she pretty? She laughed at herself, of course she was pretty.

But did Zeke think she was pretty?

Her phone began to ring, and Sharpay flipped it open. "Hello, Sharpay Evans speaking." She said politely.

"Uhh, hi Sharpay."

Sharpay's heart automatically sped up at the sound of Zeke's voice.

"Oh, hey Zeke." She laughed.

"Umm, what time do you want me to pick you up?" He questioned.

"7:30 sharp, no sooner, no later." Sharpay said robotically.

"Okay, see you at 7:30, Sharpay." Zeke answered.

"Okay, bye." Sharpay said. She closed her phone.

If Zeke was either early or late, he wasn't worth it.

"Sharpay!"

Sharpay turned and saw her stylist walk into the room. "Stella!"

Stella walked behind Sharpay. "So, vat do you vant me to do vith your make up and hair?" She said, her accent shining through.

"Well, I want the make up to match my dress. And I want my hair to look unintentionally sophisticated." Sharpay specifically requested.

Stella walked over to Sharpay's dress, then back to Sharpay. "Eet shall be done."

* * *

Sharpay paced the marble floors of her front hall, it was 7:29. She checked her hair and make up for the 18th time, then sat down in a chair. 

She looked at the grandfather clock across from her, and began to count down the seconds to 7:30.

5…4…3…2…1…_DING DONG!_

Sharpay jumped. Had her doorbell just rung?

She ran up and opened the double doors. To her surprise, Zeke was standing there in a black tux holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Zeke? You're actually..._on time_?" Sharpay asked, bewildered.

"Well, yeah. Actually, I've been here since 7:24, but you said not to be early so I've been waiting here staring at my watch for the past six minutes. Did you know that that's 360 seconds?" Zeke eagerly spit out.

Sharpay smiled. "Well, we should go, we don't want to be late."

Zeke nodded and led her to his car.

Zeke once again opened the door for her, then went over to his side.

Sharpay reached over and turned on the radio. Her favorite song came on, and she began to sing along.

She turned to Zeke, whom she realized was staring at her, entranced. "You've got a beautiful voice." He said.

She smiled and turned to look at the road. "Aww, thanks! That's so CAR!!!" Sharpay screamed.

Zeke snapped his face back to the road and just barely dodged the vehicle that had almost hit them.

* * *

When they finally arrived, they were almost late. They both ran into Lava Springs. 

"Hello." The woman at the podium said.

"We have reservations under the name of East High." Zeke told her.

"Okay, let me see. Yes, East High, 8:00. Follow me please."

Zeke and Sharpay both followed the woman.

She led them into a private room, and Sharpay gasped at the sight of it.

There was a single table in the middle of the room, which was covered with rose petals. The only light in the area was the glow of the two candles sitting on the table.

Zeke walked over and pulled out Sharpay's chair for her, and then went to his own seat.

"Zeke, are you always this much of a gentleman?" Sharpay inquired.

"Not really, but around you I make sure that I am. You basically are a princess. Or in this case Queen. But whatever, you know what I mean." Zeke said.

"Did you know that rhymed? Queen, mean?" The waitress pointed out.

Both Sharpay and Zeke looked at her strangely.

"What?" She asked. "Oh, I see. I forgot to tell you my name! I'm Betty. And you know what's even funnier? My mom's name is Betsy and my dad's name is Ross, so they're Betsy and Ross!" She said, laughing at her own joke.

Sharpay and Zeke exchanged akward glances. The waitress didn't seem to notice, though.

"Okay, so what will you two be having?" She asked, taking out her notepad.

Zeke got up and whispered in Betty's ear. "Aww, how romantic! But shhhh! I won't say a word!" Betty put her finger up to her lips.

"But I bet she loves a good cook!" She added. Zeke smacked himself in the forehead.

Betty walked out of the room.

"What was she talking about? I love a good cook?" Sharpay questioned.

"Oh, nothing." Zeke replied, failing to hide his smile.

A few minutes later Betty came in with what looked like a table with a silver top. She stepped to the side of it and handed Zeke and apron and chef's hat.

Zeke got up and went behind the table. Betty kept her place at the side of the table.

"What's that?" Sharpay asked.

"It's a cooking table. It's got an oven underneath and on top is the cooking surface." Zeke told her.

"Oh, I totally forgot that you cooked." Sharpay admitted.

"Well, now I not only cook, but I learned the choreography." He added.

He pick up a knife, then turned to Betty.

"You know you can leave now." He pointed out.

"But I don't wanna leave." She said, smiling.

"Well, you should, because one of these knives might hit and kill you." He said, lifting up the knife for emphasis.

"But why doesn't she have to leave?" Betty asked, pointing to Sharpay.

"Because I don't _want_ the knife to hit Sharpay." He said, as if it were obvious.

Betty's eyes went wide and she rushed out of the room.

Sharpay laughed. "So let's see this choreography, Houdini of the Culinary Arts." She giggled.

Zeke put out all of his ingredients on the table. He then got out two knives. He began to cut the food.

Sharpay gasped when he threw both knives into the air and began to juggle them. After a while he went back to cutting.

She watched him cook, until finally he set a plate down in front of her.

"There you go, Steak à la Zeke." He said.

He took off the apron and hat and sat down with his own plate.

Sharpay picked up her fork and took a bite of the food. "Oh…my…GOD! This is the best thing I've ever tasted in my whole entire life!" She screamed.

Zeke smiled. "You really like it?" He asked, unsure of himself.

"Are you kidding? I _love_ it! It's even better than Chef Pierre's!" She exclaimed.

Zeke' mouth dropped open. "You've eaten food made by _the _Chef Pierre!"

Sharpay nodded. "And you think my food is _better_?!" He asked.

Sharpay nodded again. Zeke couldn't help but to smile.

Sharpay stared at her plate. "Zeke, I'm sorry." She said, tears coming to her eyes.

"Sorry for what?" He asked, sensing sorrow in her voice.

"I'm sorry that I'm such a terrible person! I mean, I ruin people's lives and everything. And I'm so demanding, I insist on everything being fabulous. And I'm so selfish! And, I hate it! Because when I'm around you I feel nervous and everything, and now I'm selfish again because I want you all to myself! When you probably like someone else!" Sharpay wailed.

Sharpay looked up, and Zeke saw that she was crying. He hated seeing Sharpay cry, it pained him so much.

"Sharpay, you don't get it. I don't know why, but I love you for all of those things. I mean, if you weren't like you always are and became someone who is nice to everyone, I wouldn't have the same feelings for you." Zeke pleaded.

Sharpay looked up. "Did you just say that you loved me…for me?" She asked.

Zeke nodded. Sharpay smiled and began to stop crying. "I need more water!" She whined.

Zeke jumped up from the table and poured her a glass of water.

He placed it in front of her. Sharpay's smile got even bigger.

"That's it. You're perfect. You don't want me to change, you listen and do everything I say, and you practically worship me. You're absolutely, positively, no doubt the perfect guy for me." She said.

Zeke smiled. "So this means…"

"So this means kiss me, you fool!" Sharpay yelled, standing up.

Zeke stood up from the table and dashed over to Sharpay. He slid his arms around her waist and crashed his lips onto hers.

After a while they finally broke apart, gasping for air.

"FINALLY! I feel sparks when I kiss a guy!" Sharpay said, her breathing returning to normal.

Zeke smiled.

Sharpay sat back down in her chair, and Zeke went back to his. They continued eating as if they hadn't just shared the best kiss of their lives.

"So, my dad is thinking of buying this place." Sharpay told him.

"Can I be head chef?" Zeke asked.

"Of course not!" Sharpay laughed. Zeke's face changed expressions immediately, and he got up to leave.

"Because, if you worked here I wouldn't see you as often. No, you're definitely going to be my personal chef. That means that you'll be working at my house. You'll also be payed by the hour, no matter if you're cooking or not." She added.

Zeke immediately sat down. "I'm so sorry, Sharpay, I'll never lose my cool again." He promised.

"Look, Zeke, I know that you love me and everything, and I love you back, but you kind of seem like my servant, not my boyfriend. I want you to be yourself, not a slave." Sharpay explained.

Zeke nodded.

Sharpay looked down at her food. "Wow, I think's that's the only time I've ever been able to actually finish a full plate of food." She laughed.

"Yeah, well maybe my cooking is addictive." Zeke joked.

"Yeah, your cooking is pretty addictive. And also—Okay, I can't stand this anymore!"

Sharpay got up and pulled Zeke out of his seat. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards her, putting her lips on his.

After a minute or so they pulled apart. "Now that is addictive." Sharpay smirked.

She and Zeke walked out of the resteraunt hand in hand, and when they got to his car he quickly opened her door for her, just like always.

* * *

Okay, so I thought that this was totally cute. I'll update ASAP, but who knows when that will be. I'll just battle my homework to the F. Haha, get it? To the F! It's usually "to the death", but I said "to the F" because it's a failing grade and it also rhymes with death! 

Volleychic123's Review Policy: Okay, if you hated it write a review saying "Purple socks". If you loved it than write "I ate the trombone so I started to play the turkey leg in band, and then I did a totally awesome flip into a ravine." You don't have to write anything if you don't want to, and you can write as much as you want.


	12. About Time

**Hey, guys. Sorry about not updating often enough, it's just that school has me in a chokehold. And I'm gasping for air. Pffft, like any of my teachers can keep me in a chokehold. Okay, maybe my Geography teacher, he seems strong. But in a metaphorical chokehold of neverending homework.**

**I've decided to give Betty another appearance, a lot of people thought she was funny. And I'm putting the beginning Author's Note in bold, so you know when the story starts. **

**And I put the gang in their Senior year of High School, because it fits the story better.**

**Okay, Top Reviews:**

**1. Goes to happyday3. She wrote a list of 10 reasons why Zeke should be _her_ personal chef. Then she made up a new word, and I'm calling Webster right now to get it added to the dictionary, she explained her choice of punishment for the man that hired Betty, and was the only one that appreciated my "Battling homework to the F" comment. And by the way, there is a show called "America's Next Producer" I think, and also Ryan and Sharpay are twins, as in related. She shouldn't be staring at him calling him gorgeous, lol.**

**2. Goes to PinkJelly. Omg, you scared me with the purple socks thing in the beginning. And you're right, right now my cheesecake is singing "Rock-a-bye Baby" to my dog. It has a lovely voice, I think it's the rasperry swirl that did it. But my turkey leg is gobbling in a corner, pshh, stupid turkey leg.**

**3. Goes to marebear11, for saying that my story is her anti-drug. That's a priveledge right there. If there's one thing I hate, it's drugs. But hey, _writing _this story is my anti-drug.**

**4. Goes to linklover26. Doesn't everyone want Zeke to cook them Hibachi food? I know I do.**

**5. Goes to dramalover4, the fact that you would actually do that if you could inspires me.**

**6. Goes to xlovelyloserface, for saying that Troy and Gabriella should grow up and have babies that are named after her.**

**Disclaimer: Like the owner of HSM is still in high school. Pshh, yeah right. And I bet that your real name is Fluffy Pink Unicorn Man, gaurdian of everything from teddy bears to dolls.**

* * *

Chapter 12

About Time

"So, do you really think that we'll be together forever?" Gabriella asked, her fingers linked with Troy's.

They were sitting together on a bench at the local park.

"No, I _know _that we'll be together forever. But…um…there's something I need to tell you, it's good news, yet it's a touchy subject." Troy sighed.

Gabriella looked into his eyes questioningly.

"Look, Gabriella. At the championship game there were college scouts, and I've been given a scholarship to UCLA." Troy confessed.

A smile spread across Gabriella's face. "No way! We'll still be together!" She yelled, standing up.

Troy looked confused, so Gabriella explained. "Well, at our last Decathlon one of the scouts from UCLA gave me a scholarship too!"

Troy began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Gabriella asked.

"It's just that we just _happened _to get picked for that karaoke that night at the ski lodge, but then the next day I left early. But then your mom just _happened _to be transferred to Albuquerque, forcing you to go to my school. And then when it's almost time for college to separate us, we _happen _to get scholarships to the same college." Troy pointed out.

"So?" Gabriella asked, utterly confused.

"So it kind of seems like fate won't give up on us."

Gabriella smiled. "So, together forever, huh?"

"Yeah, together forever. Let's make a deal. In five years when you and I are out of college and both have substantial jobs, we'll get married." Troy suggested.

"Hmmm, Mrs. Gabriella Maria Bolton. I like the way that sounds. Okay, five years." Gabriella promised.

Troy picked Gabriella up and spun her around. He placed her back on the ground and kissed her softly on the lips.

"_This could be the start of something new,_

_It feels so right to be here with you._

_Ooh. And now—"_

Gabriella stepped back from Troy and answered her cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Gabi. Did you buy a dress for the Homecoming Dance yet?" Taylor asked, on the other end of the phone.

"No, do you want to go shopping with me for one?" Gabriella questioned.

"Um, sure. When should I—Chad! Stop it!—when should I meet you at the mall?" Taylor questioned.

"Hey, Gabriella, did you know that I asked Taylor to the dance? And she said yes. Well, she didn't actually _say _yes, she just kissed me." Chad said, he must have grabbed the phone from Taylor.

"Chad give me that back! Okay, so how's 5:00 sound?" Taylor asked, obviously reclaiming her cell.

"Okay, five is great. See you then." Gabriella answered. She closed her phone.

"It was Taylor. She and I are going to the mall to buy dresses for the dance. But one problem. Who in the world will take me?" Gabriella asked, suppressing a giggle.

"Definitely not me. I'm taking my girlfriend, Gabriella Montez. She's the most amazing girl you'll ever meet." Troy laughed.

Gabriella giggled. "Well, I better go, it's already 4:30."

Gabriella kissed Troy goodbye and ran off towards her house.

* * *

Gabriella sat on the bench outside of the Albuquerque Mall. A car pulled up and Taylor climbed out. 

Gabriella stretched out her neck to see the driver, however he had driven away. But not before she spotted a mass of curly brown hair.

"So, you and Chad, that's quite a couple." Gabriella said, poking fun at her friend.

"Yeah…well…let's go. I have to be home in two hours." Taylor said, pulling Gabriella off the bench she had been sitting on.

Gabriella walked into a dress boutique. They tried on several dresses, but none of them were perfect.

They kept going through many stores until Taylor found a green strapless dress that looked absolutely stunning on her.

Taylor bought the dress, and then they both headed to the food court.

"So, you seem like you're in a good mood." Taylor said, sipping her water.

"Yeah, well me and Troy we…we decided to get married!" Gabriella exclaimed.

Taylor spit out her water all over the table. "B-but you're so young, I mean, we're only in our senior year. Marriage is a little…um…_big_." Taylor fussed.

"Well, we're not getting married _now_, in five years." Gabriella laughed.

"God, Gabi. Don't scare me like that!" Taylor playfully yelled.

They both got up to throw away their trash. They walked into the last dress store in the entire mall. Gabriella searched the racks, but couldn't find anything.

"Hey Gabriella, how about this?" Taylor asked, holding out a red halter dress.

"Um, it looks pretty cute. I'll go try it on." She said. She went into the dressing room and took off all of her clothing except for her undergarments.

She then slid the dress on to her thin body. She looked into the mirror. She looked amazing.

She walked out of the dressing room and faced Taylor. "So, how do I look?" She asked.

Taylor's mouth dropped to the floor. "Woah, you are going to knock Troy off of his feat. Let's see what he thinks."

Gabriella pulled out her phone and handed it to Taylor. Taylor snapped a photo of Gabriella. She handed the phone back to her.

She sent the picture with a text.

**Gabriella:** Hey Troy, this is the dress I'm thinking of wearing. You like?

(no reply)

**Gabriella:** Troy, are you there?

**Troy:** Yeah, sorry. I just fainted. You should buy that.

**Gabriella:** Ok, love you, xoxo.

**Troy:** Love you too, xoxoxo.

Gabriella snapped her phone shut.

"Well, that settles it. I'm buying the dress." She said, walking back into the dressing room. She put on her clothes and headed to the register to by it.

* * *

"So, what dress did you buy?" Chad asked Taylor, who was sitting in the passenger seat. 

"You'll just have to wait and see." She smiled triumphantly.

"Well, I know Gabriella looked awesome in her dress. Me and Troy were shootin' some hoops when he got a text. I was laughing so hard 'cause he looked at the picture on the screen and dropped his phone. Then he was typing like mad. And I was all 'Dude, why are you always so eager to talk to Gabriella?' and he was like 'Because I love her.'. Now _that _is what I call whipped." Chad admitted.

Gabriella felt a blush creep onto her cheeks. Taylor just rolled her eyes.

"You know Chad, Troy isn't the worst one whipped here. Have you seen Zeke and Sharpay? He practically worships the ground she walks on. And they go _everywhere _together." Taylor told him.

"Well, trust me. Troy is whipped worse than that for Gabriella. He's so mad in love it's not even funny. I mean, I don't think we've had a conversation lately that hasn't included the word 'Gabriella'. The only reason Troy isn't like Zeke is because Gabriella is just as whipped for him as he is for her. Ain't that right, Gabi?" Chad asked, turning around to face her.

Gabriella's face was now bright red. Chad just laughed and focused back on the road. He pulled into Gabriella's driveway at full speed.

Gabriella grabbed her bag and jumped out of the car. She waved goodbye to Chad and Taylor, and then began to search for the keys to her house. Her mom was probably asleep.

"Boo!"

Gabriella jumped so high that she dropped all of her things. She saw Troy come out from behind a bush, and she put her hand to her chest.

"Troy, you scared me!" Gabriella said, her voice a little high from her nerves.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Here, let me help you." Troy apologized, bending down to pick up Gabriella's things. He fished her keys out of her purse and unlocked her door for her.

"Troy, can I have my things now?" Gabriella asked.

"No, I'm going to be a gentleman and carry them for you." He replied, walking into her house. He set everything down on her table, then lay down on her couch.

Gabriella walked over to the couch and lay down next to him. She put her head on his arm for a pillow. She turned the TV on and saw that it was the movie "John Tucker Must Die".

Troy wrapped his other arm around her stomach. He buried his head in her hair, then felt his eyes closing.

* * *

Mrs. Montez groaned. She couldn't sleep anymore. She tiptoed down the stairs and into the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of milk, then walked into the living room. 

To her surprise, the couch was already inhabited by the sleeping bodies of Gabriella and Troy. She smiled. Gabriella had a peaceful smile on her face that her mother had never seen before.

_Troy makes her so happy._ She thought.

Gabriella jerked in her sleep suddenly, and her mother watched as her daughter's fingers found Troy's and intertwined them. Gabriella immediately calmed down.

Mrs. Montez just smiled, then walked back upstairs.

* * *

Troy watched Gabriella twitch in her sleep, and he knew that she was having a nightmare. He rubbed her shoulder and began to whisper random things into her ear. 

Gabriella's muscles relaxed, and Troy sighed. He hated seeing Gabriella agitated like that.

Suddenly Gabriella jolted awake, sitting up. Troy sat up as well.

"What? Oh Troy. I'm sorry, I was having this terrible dream, although I can't remember what it was about." Gabriella informed him.

Gabriella dropped her head into her hands. Troy gently rubbed her back. "Gabriella, I know you. You remember your dream. Tell me what it was about." Troy soothingly cooed.

"It…it was about my father. About the day he…the day he…he left this world." Gabriella said, her body shaking.

Troy immediately pulled her into a hug. He let her cry into his shirt, he knew not to ask what happened, he already knew the story too well.

_Flashback_

_A six-year-old Gabriella was sitting on a swing. Her long, dark hair was cascading down her back. Her father walked out of her house._

"_Hey, Gabi Ella." He greeted her, using the nickname he had given her._

_Gabriella giggled._

"_Daddy, tomorrow can we go to the toy store? They have a really cool new toy I saw on TV." Gabriella begged._

"_Okay, Gabi Ella." Her father smiled._

_Gabriella jumped off the swing and onto the ground. She searched around the lawn for a bit until she found her ball. It was one of those big exercise balls, and Gabriella liked to bounce and jump on hers._

_She bounced it up and down, and then tried to pick it up. It was way to big for her small arms to hold, and it rolled away from her and into the street._

"_Ball-ey" She called, using the name she had given it. She darted after it as fast as her tiny legs could carry her._

_Her father was watching from their front step. He looked down the street and saw a car speeding towards where Gabriella was running to. He dashed after his daughter._

"_Gabriella!" He called._

_Gabriella had just reached the ball. "What, daddy?" She asked._

_Her father jumped and pushed Gabriella out of the way. Gabriella watched as the speeding car hit her father and threw him five meters from where he had been before._

_Her dad landed on the ground with a THUD._

"_Daddy!" She screamed, and ran over to where his lifeless form was lying._

"_Daddy!" She screamed again through her tears._

_Her father's eyes opened a sliver. "Gabriella," he breathed, "tell your mother that I love her. I love you so much, and I am so proud of you, no matter what."_

"_Daddy, why do I have to tell her that? Why can't you?" She yelled._

"_Honey, you'll always be my little Gabi Ella. I just wish I could of watched you grow up." He said, tears rolling down his battered face._

"_Daddy, why won't you be able to watch me grow up?" Gabriella sobbed. A group of people had formed around the father and daughter, all brought to tears at the sight._

"_Honey, I'm going to leave this world. I'm going to go up to heaven." He explained._

"_But daddy, why are you leaving? I want you to stay!" Gabriella cried._

_Her father's eyelids began to droop down._

"_Daddy! Please, don't leave!" Gabriella screamed._

_But her father couldn't hear her. And Gabriella, at age 6, realized what death was._

_End Flashback_

After that accident, Gabriella refused for anyone to call her "Gabi Ella".

Troy kissed Gabriella's hair. "Gabriella, it wasn't your fault. Whenever something bad happens to someone close to us we always blame ourselves.

"I know, Troy. It's just so…so hard to let him go. It's been 12 years, and I still can't." She sobbed.

"Gabriella, you don't need to let go. Forgetting about your father will do nothing. What you need to do is move on." Troy said, trying desperately to comfort her.

He hated seeing her sad, and he just wanted her to be happy again.

"_We're soaring, flying._

_There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach._"

Troy kept singing to her. Gabriella smiled through her tears. She laid back down, and fell asleep to Troy's voice.

* * *

Gabriella opened her locker and stared at the picture of her and Troy hanging on the door. He was kissing her cheek and she was giggling like mad. 

She smiled, she couldn't live without Troy. She suddenly she felt a pair of muscular arms slip around her body and hug her close.

"Hey, Troy." Gabriella said.

"Hey, Gabriella."

Gabriella turned in Troy's arms so that she was facing him. She leaned in to kiss him when suddenly there was a white folder in front of her lips.

She turned and saw Ms. Darbus standing to the right of them. "I'm sorry, you two, but there are rules against public display of affection."

"Oh, I'm sorry. It'll never happen again." Gabriella promised, she hated getting in trouble.

"I will excuse you just this once, but only because…well…well I think it's about time you two got together." Ms. Darbus blushed.

Troy laughed, and Ms. Darbus waltzed off to find her next victim.

"I gotta go to class. I'll pick you up at 7 for the dance tonight." Troy told Gabriella.

Gabriella smiled, "Alright. Bye, I love you"

Troy looked over his shoulder for Ms. Darbus, then leaned in and kissed Gabriella. "I love you, see you then, or hopefully sooner."

Gabriella watched Troy walked off for a few seconds, then headed to her own class.

Ms. Darbus walked out from behind an AV cart. "About time." She said.

* * *

Okay, that was tons of Troyella fluff. The next chapter is the dance, then I'm making and epilogue. Then the memorial service. Agh, it's almost over. Nooooooo! Hahaha, I need to think of a new story idea, and fast! 

Volleychic123's Review Policy: "Purple socks" means you hated it, "The tarantula ate my bed so I slept in the tree." if you loved it. You don't have to write it if you don't want to, and you can write as much as you want.


	13. Dance The Night Away

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been swamped with schoolwork. But I got this chapter done, and I've also made a new story.**

**So here are the Top 6 Reviews:**

**1. Goes to PinkJelly for her signature random phrases. Hahaha, they make me laugh. But cheesecake and mashed potatoes don't go well together, at least I don't think they do. And also for the "Princess Bride" mention, that's one of my favorite movies.**

**2. Goes to happyday3, because she loves this story a lot and it brought tears to her eyes.**

**3. Goes to Desiree Lemmon for using one of my review sayings for what I think was her first time.**

**4. Goes to koalagirl07 for scaring me half to death. Seriously guys, don't scare me by putting "Purple socks" and then saying "Just kidding!" or something, I nearly have a heart attack every time. (sniffles). But haha, it is pretty funny.**

**5. Goes to linklover26, I wish I could bring this story back to life again, but the plot is basically over. It's so...so...SAD!(cries uncontrollably) Sorry, I had a moment there.**

**6. Goes to mysupermanwillcome, I wish that Troy would sing me to sleep to. Seems like Gabriella has all the luck.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HSM.**

* * *

Chapter 13

Dance the Night Away

Gabriella stared out the window of Mr. Bolton's car. Troy's father had let him borrow it for this special occasion.

"You okay? You seem a little…lost." Troy asked. Gabriella sensed a worried tone in his voice and snapped her head around to face him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just dazed off. But nothing's wrong or anything." Gabriella answered. Her stomach felt like it was filled with one thousand Mexican Jumping Beans.

Troy nodded. He saw the school rising on the horizon. "We're here." Troy smiled.

"Why do you seem all giddy? This isn't your first dance." Gabriella questioned.

"It's my first dance with you as my date, so in my book it's my first dance ever." Troy replied. Gabriella blushed and a smile formed on her face.

"Well, here we are. East High." Troy said, parking the car. He opened his door and walked over to Gabriella's side to open hers.

Gabriella stepped out of the car. She took Troy's hand in hers, and they both entered the gymnasium.

The walls were covered with strings of colored paper, and the school had managed to hang a disco ball on the ceiling. There were fold out chairs along the walls for those who didn't feel like dancing.

"Do you want some punch?" Troy yelled over the dance music pumping through the room. Gabriella nodded and followed Troy over to the table with fruit punch and snacks on it.

"Hey, dude. Taylor wouldn't let me pick her up at her house. She said that she wanted her dress to be a surprise." Chad whined, he had popped up behind Troy.

At that moment, Taylor walked into the gym. Her dress looked gorgeous on her. Chad's mouth dropped.

"Taylor?" He asked no one in particular.

Gabriella laughed as Chad sprinted over to her. She followed him.

"Oh my god, you look amazing." Gabriella complimented Taylor. Chad spun around to face Gabriella.

"Did you just say she looked _amazing_?" Chad asked rather harshly. Gabriella nodded.

"Well she looks so much better than amazing that amazing can be thought of as an insult to her. She is a goddess. No, she's even more beautiful than a goddess. So I hope you know that you just _insulted_ her." Chad accused her.

Gabriella laughed. She turned around to search for Troy. She saw him talking to the head cheerleader, Missy. Gabriella slowly made her way across the dance floor to them.

The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion to Gabriella. Tears burned the edges of her eyes as she saw Missy grab Troy and pull him into her, planting her lips on his.

She tried to see Troy's reaction, but her tears were blurring her vision. But she could've sworn that she saw Troy kissing back.

"NO!" She shrieked. The dance music suddenly stopped playing and everyone turned to face her. Even Missy pulled away from Troy to see what was going on.

"Gabriella, no. It's not what you think." Troy pleaded. Gabriella shook her head and ran off towards the bathroom, followed closely by Taylor.

Gabriella pushed through the bathroom door and slumped down into one of the corners. She couldn't hold back and just let the tears pour out. She hadn't cried this hard since that day when her father was struck by a car.

It wasn't just that Troy kissed Missy. She'd seen him kiss Sharpay, but they hadn't been going out at the time. But know they _were_. He had betrayed her.

She heard the door open and looked up to see who it was. Her vision was blurred to an extent that all she could make out was a dark skinned person wearing green.

"Gabriella I…I wish I had something I could say to make it all better. But I…I really don't know what I can say. We all saw it." The person said. Gabriella figured by their voice that it was Taylor.

"That two-faced lying evil she-devil!" A second voice said as she was walking in. Gabriella guessed that it had to be Sharpay.

Gabriella began to sob even harder. She and Sharpay weren't even that good of friends, but yet she had come to make sure she was all right.

"Y-y-y-you guys…i-i-i-it's not that b-b-b-b-big of a deal. I sh-sh-sh-should have kn-kn-kn-known!" Gabriella sobbed. She heard the door open again.

"Is she okay? Ryan and I just got here." The person said. It had to be Kelsi.

"She's crying in the corner of a girl's bathroom. Of course she not okay!" Taylor yelled.

"Look, guys. Let me go take care of Missy. Hurting one of my friends that badly is social suicide." Sharpay growled.

"F-f-f-friends?" Gabriella asked through her tears.

"Yeah, friends. It's about time I got some." Sharpay said.

"What about the Sharpettes?" Kelsi asked.

"Oh, they've gone on to worship some cheerleader named 'Gracie'. But anyway, back to Missy. When I'm done with her, she'll be at the bottom of the food chain." Sharpay snarled. Gabriella heard her leave the bathroom.

"Gabi, come here." Taylor said, taking Gabriella into her arms. Gabriella sobbed into Taylor's dress.

* * *

Sharpay walked out of the bathroom. She was no sooner confronted by Troy Bolton. 

"Is she okay?" He asked her.

"Oh, Gabriella? She's just sobbing like mad in the corner of a bathroom because she just witnessed the love of her life swapping spit with Missy! You two-timing sleazy little jerk!" Sharpay roared.

"Sharpay I wasn—"

"I'm not the one who needs to hear it!" Sharpay interrupted. She walked off towards the gym, leaving Troy standing there.

She saw Missy standing and giggling with a few of the other cheerleaders.

"Missy." Sharpay yelled. The DJ once again stopped playing the music. Missy looked over at Sharpay.

"What?" She asked.

"Front and center." Sharpay commanded. Missy rolled her eyes and walked over towards Sharpay.

"What do you want?" She asked, annoyed.

"Oh, I just wanted to know why you happened to lock lips with Troy Bolton when you KNEW that he was in love with Gabriella?" Sharpay demanded.

"Because he's hot, and Gabriella doesn't deserve him." Missy said matter-of-factly. She began to inspect her nails. Sharpay slapped her across the face.

"What makes you even _think _you have the social status to attempt a move like that?" Sharpay spit out.

"Hello? I'm head cheerleader." Missy retorted, rolling her eyes again.

"Well maybe you should listen to this. If there's one thing I know, its gossip. I am connected with every person in Albuquerque. There is not a thing you can do that I cannot find out about. I can ruin you quicker than you can say treachery." Sharpay hissed.

"Pshh, yeah right." Missy snapped, uninterested.

"Oh, you don't believe me? I happen to know that last summer at sleep away camp, you wet your bed. _Twice_." Sharpay cackled. Everyone in the gym began to crack up.

"Oh, and that's not all. This summer you got a nose job _and_ breast implants. And then you tried to convince everyone that you had just grown over the summer." Sharpay barked. The whole gym began to laugh even harder.

"Oh, and here's the best one. Every month Missy attends the 'Dungeons and Dragons Festapalooza'. She's also the current _champion_." Sharpay snickered. The whole gym erupted into a cacophony of laughter and sniggers.

Missy began to cry and ran out of the gym. "Social suicide." Sharpay said to herself.

* * *

Gabriella walked away from Taylor and returned to her spot in the corner. She heard the door open and guessed that it was Sharpay returning from plotting Missy's downfall. 

She heard Taylor gasp. "Gabriella, we'll, um, be right outside of bathroom." Taylor whispered to her.

Gabriella continued crying, how could her friends desert her like this?

Gabriella heard a male sob, and jerked her head up. She wiped her eyes until her vision was only slightly blurred. She gasped.

"T-T-Troy?" Gabriella asked. She was crying just as hard as she had before. Troy looked over at her.

"Gabriella, I'm so…so sorry. I can't stand to see you in so much pain. I didn't kiss Missy. She just grabbed me and wouldn't let me go." Troy explained.

"Troy, are…are you crying?" Gabriella asked. Her tears began to stop falling.

"Yes, I am. I can't help it. I mean, I fell in love, and then it was taken away from me before I could even claim it as my own. But then we finally started to go out, and I just ruined everything. We had a solid future, I mean, we were going to get married. And I ruined it all. So I came in here to tell you that I still love you just as much as ever before." Troy rambled on.

Gabriella started to laugh.

"Are you crying again?" Troy asked. Gabriella shook her head.

"No, I'm laughing. Troy, I still love you. And we're still going to get married in five years. We still have our solid future. I forgive you." Gabriella explained.

A smile broke out across Troy's face. He darted over to Gabriella's side and picked her up bridal style. He looked straight into her eyes, and then kissed her.

"Hey, Gabriella. We heard you stop cryi—oh." Taylor said, embarrassed that she interrupted.

"It's alright Taylor, me and Gabriella are back together! Oh, and Chad told me to tell you that he wants to talk to you. And he said he'd kill me if I told you this, but he also said 'Dude, I can't believe that I'm going to say this, but, I am whipped so bad.' Don't tell him I told you that." Troy smiled.

Taylor laughed and walked out of the bathroom.

"Ugh, I must look terrible with my make up all smeared and everything." Gabriella complained, wiping her eyes once again.

"I think you look beautiful." Troy said.

The door swung open. A brown-haired woman walked into the room. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties.

"Holy bologna! There's a guy in the girl's bathroom!" She yelled.

Troy nodded sheepishly.

"Well, my name is Betty. You might know me, I work over at Lava Springs. I'm here chaperoning. You might also know my sister, Missy. She walked off somewhere." Betty said, checking the stalls as if she'd find her there.

"Oh, well, good luck finding her." Gabriella said. Betty looked up.

"Oh, thanks. Is he holding you like that because you just got married? Because if he is, why'd you choose to get married in a bathroom? And why did you wear your make up like _that_? All smeared around on your face like you were crying." Betty asked.

Troy realized that Gabriella was still in his arms and immediately put her down on the floor.

"No, we didn't just get married. There was a…mouse. So I picked her up because she has Europhobia, the excessive fear of mice." Troy explained.

"You want to know something funny? The name for the fear of long words is a really long word. It's Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. So if you had Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, you wouldn't be able to tell someone that you had it because it's a long word, and you're scared of long words! That's just so ironic." Betty laughed. **(A/N Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the real name for the fear of long words. And Europhobia is the real name for the fear of mice.)**

"Interesting." Gabriella lied.

"Well, I gotta go find Missy. She's probably avoiding me. She told me to never acknowledge the fact that we know each other in public." Betty sighed.

"I wonder why." Gabriella muttered.

Betty didn't hear her though and ran through the door.

"Maybe, uh, we should leave the bathroom." Troy suggested. Gabriella nodded and they both walked out.

They were met by the sound of clapping, and they quickly realized that half of the student body was standing outside of the girl's restroom.

Troy smiled and intertwined his fingers with Gabriella's. He was going to have a great life.

* * *

Missy got what she deserved. Hahaha, next chapter is the Epilogue. And then the memorial service (yes, there will be one). 

I'm making a new story, it's called "The Thought of You Keeps Me Alive". The trailer is up, go to my profile to find it easier. But it's more serious than my other stories.

Volleychic123's Review Policy: If you hated it, write a review saying "Purple socks". If you loved it write a review saying "The police put me in jail because I was riding a tricycle backwards on top of a refrigerator on an interstate highway." That is actually illegal in one of the American States, in in a book called "Stupid Laws of America" or something. You don't have to put it in your review if you don't want to, and you can write as much as you want.


	14. Epilogue

**Okay, I have no idea how I got in this update, but I did. You all have no idea how much homework I'm given every night. Plus, I have to research for my new story.**

**The last Top Reviews and the new Reviewer Awards for this story (boohoo):**

**1. Goes to PinkJelly, she mentioned practically all of my review policy things. She also wrote a big summary about why she loved it. And it was probably the longest review I've ever recieved. So PinkJelly recieves the Random Phrase Award.**

**2. Goes to marebear11 for saying purple socks. Why would I put someone as number two for saying they hated it? Because she said purple socks because she loves it and hates that its ending. So she wins the I Hate It Because I Love It Award.**

**3. Goes to xXsomeone.will.bleedXx, I know I said I wouldn't put any more repetition reviews in the top, but I made an exception. I had to, it was so long that my hand got tired from scrolling. So xXsomeone.will.bleedXx wins the Repetition Award.**

**4. Goes to zanessafan19, who not only wrote a long, complimentary review but also complimented my grammar. One thing I can't stand is bad grammar. Like, if a story has terrible grammar then I cannot read it. My mind won't let me. So zanessafan19 gets the Grammar Award.**

**5. Goes to xlovelyloserface because when I read her review the first thing it said was "OMG! I LOVE YOU!" That kind of jumped out at me. So xlovelyloserface wins the Betty's Biggest Fan Award.**

**7. If you won an award but I can't list it here I will send you a PM congratulating you and telling you your award. And guess what? There's no number six. Haha, did anyone notice that? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM.**

**And I present to you the final _real_ chapter of the story "Homecoming War".**

* * *

Chapter 14

Epilogue

_5 Years Later (5 years after that day at the park)_

"Stop pacing, it'll all be fine." Taylor assured Gabriella.

Gabriella sat down on the maroon couch and sighed. She traced her finger along the design on her white dress.

Gabriella was about to get married, and she was sitting in a room set aside by the church especially for the bride.

"But what if it's not okay? I mean, what if he has second thoughts?" Gabriella worried. Sharpay laughed.

"Please, Gabriella. The chance of Troy having second thoughts is about the same chance of a meteor striking us at this very moment." Sharpay joked.

Gabriella looked around the room. Her mother was peering out the door, watching everything going on outside. Her bridesmaids, Sharpay, Kelsi, Taylor, and Martha, were all checking each other's dresses. She looked out the window and saw a swarm of bushy hair poking out from behind a bush.

"Taylor, get your boyfriend to quit spying on us." Gabriella demanded.

"Fiancé! He's my fiancé!" Taylor corrected her as she made her way over to the window.

"Hey, James Bond, leave the bride alone on her big day." Taylor yelled. Gabriella heard a faint "no".

"Fine, then I guess I just won't marry you." Taylor threatened. After a few moments, she looked over at Gabriella victoriously.

Gabriella laughed. She put her hand to her head and touched her veil to check if it was still in place.

"Bridesmaids need to go into the church, right now!" Mrs. Montez called. Sharpay, Kelsi, and Martha all ran out of the room. Gabriella walked over to Taylor for support.

Gabriella's mom ran over to her side. "Um, Gabriella? It's time to get married." She announced. Gabriella smiled as her mind went back to that night three weeks ago.

_Flashback_

_Troy and Gabriella were lying down on a blanket under the stars. Gabriella looked over and saw Troy reaching into his pocket. She wondered what he was doing, but then just shrugged it off._

"_Um, Gabriella?" Troy said, his nerves rattling his voice._

"_Yes?" Gabriella asked._

"_Do you know what today is?" Troy questioned._

"_No, I can't say that I do." Gabriella answered. Troy smiled._

"_It's five years later. So, um, will you, uh, marry me?" Troy asked, lifting up a diamond ring._

"_Oh my god. Oh my god! Yes! Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!" Gabriella screamed. Troy slipped the ring onto her finger. Gabriella, unable to contain her joy, grabbed his face and kissed him._

_End Flashback_

Gabriella smiled at the memory, and took her mother's arm. It was time to get married.

HSMHSMHSM

Troy stood in the front of the church. Beside him was his best man, Chad, and his groomsmen, Ryan and Zeke. Of the three only one was married, which was Zeke. He and Sharpay had gotten married two weeks after they graduated college.

The organist started playing and Troy felt his heart speed up. He turned to face the door, waiting for Gabriella to enter.

Suddenly the doors burst open, revealing a blond haired little girl walking down the aisle. It was Liliana, Sharpay and Zeke's two-year-old daughter. Next was a young boy, Troy's cousin Robby. The next to enter was Taylor, the Maid of Honor. Finally, Gabriella and her mother walked through the doors. **(Gabriella, Liliana, and the bridesmaids' dresses are all in profile)**

Troy's heart skipped a beat when he caught site of Gabriella. She looked amazing. When she finally reached him, he took her veil and lifted it behind her head.

They both smiled at each other, and then turned to the priest to be wed.

* * *

_4 Years after 5 Years Later (9 years after that day at the park)_

"Mommy? Can the baby hear me when I talk to him?" A little girl asked, placing her face on Gabriella's swollen stomach.

"Yes, Katie, but we don't know if it's a him or her." Gabriella laughed.

"Well, I want it to be a boy, because I already have a sister." The girl announced. Gabriella glanced over at the girl identical to Katie running around the yard with her father.

"Okay, but I can't control whether or not it's a boy or girl. Why don't you go play with Jenny?" Gabriella suggested. The four-year-old girl ran off to join her sister. Troy walked over to Gabriella.

"How's my baby doing?" Troy asked.

"He's fine, although he has been kicking a lot lately." Gabriella told him. Troy put his arms around Gabriella.

"That's great, but I was talking about you." Troy whispered into her ear. Gabriella giggled.

"Well, I should probably get some rest. Being eight months pregnant is not an easy business. But hey, it's easier this time. I don't have to carry around twins." Gabriella admitted.

"Gabriella, everyone's coming over tomorrow. And did you hear? Sharpay's pregnant again." Troy laughed.

"Oh, come on, Troy. It's just their third child. We're going to have three children." Gabriella defended her friend.

"Yes, but this is your second pregnancy, and this is Sharpay's third. I mean, in five years her and Zeke will have six kids." Troy pointed out.

"Oh, well. What about Kelsi? She just had a child. And Taylor is three months pregnant. What about them?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, the child Kelsi just had is her and Ryan's only child. And Taylor and Chad are having their second child, not _third_." Troy argued. Gabriella laughed.

"Whatever, all of our kids will be in the same grade." Gabriella mentioned.

Troy smiled, and then helped Gabriella into their house. He knew it, in five years time Sharpay and Zeke would have six kids. Those two just couldn't keep their hands off of each other, literally.

* * *

_5 Years after 4 Years after 5 Years Later (14 years after that day at the park)_

Gabriella sat down in a lawn chair. It was Katie and Jenny's 9th birthday party, and there were fifteen screaming kids running around their yard.

"Mommy!" Both Katie and Jenny called.

"Look what Uncle Ryan got us!" Jenny said.

"It's a puppy!" Katie smiled.

"We named her Frances! Oh, and you'll never believe what happened!" Jenny exclaimed.

"Timmy, Faith, and Lizzy…" Katie said.

"They made a band. Timmy…" Jenny interrupted.

Katie picked up where her sister let off, "Play's the piano while…"

"Lizzy sings and Faith plays the guitar." Jenny finished. Gabriella couldn't help laughing.

"You two give me such a headache when you finish each other's sentences." She complained.

"Sorry mommy!" They both said at the exact same time.

Gabriella laughed as the two ran towards the group of children in the middle of the yard. She sent Troy a look and they both walked over to the group of kids.

"Okay everybody. It's time to have a three-legged race. Pick a partner." Troy yelled. Everyone scrambled around, grabbing their friends.

"Okay, now Zeke is going around tying your ankles together. The first one to reach Kelsi wins!" Troy yelled.

"Ready, set, go!" Gabriella yelled. She laughed as the pairs all tried to direct their walking.

After much teamwork, Liliana and Daisy, Sharpay's second oldest, won. Sharpay ran over and congratulated her daughters.

Troy had been right; Sharpay and Zeke had six kids. They had Liliana, who was 11 years old, Daisy, who was 10 years old, Brad, who was 5 years old, and Timmy, Lizzy, and Faith, who were all 4 years old.

The only reason they had so many kids was the fact that Sharpay's fourth pregnancy was with triplets.

Gabriella suddenly broke out laughing. Troy looked at her questioningly.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"It's just that this…this is all I've ever wanted. A great family, great friends, a great job, a great husband." She smiled.

"Yeah, this is all that we've dreamed of. Remember how we got together?" Troy asked.

"Homecoming. How could I forget?" Gabriella giggled.

"Yeah, that was one crazy year." Troy confessed.

"But it was the best all the same." Gabriella said, leaning in to kiss her husband.

As their lips met, they felt just as much sparks as they had felt the first time they had kissed.

"Ew! Mommy's kissing Daddy!" Freddy, their 5-year-old son, yelled.

* * *

_9 Years After 5 Years after 4 Years after 5 Years Later (23 Years)_

Gabriella and Troy were sitting in their kitchen, drinking coffee. Soon their kids would come home from school. Jenny, who now went by Jen, and Katie were now seniors in High School, and Freddy was in 8th grade.

They heard the door open and two pairs of feet rushing towards the kitchen. Frances immediately jumped up and ran to the door.

"Mom! Dad! Guess what?!" Jen yelled.

"What?" Troy asked.

"Jen is nominated to become Homecoming Queen!" Katie giggled. Both twins began to jump up and down excitedly. Troy and Gabriella's eyes widened.

"Did you guys know that East High has its own tradition? The Queen and King win a date!" Jen screamed.

"Yeah, Jen's just excited because Andrew is running for King." Katie added. Jen turned and smacked her sister on the shoulder. Andrew was one of Jen's friends and her secret crush.

"I just hope I win. Do you guys remember when you ran for King and Queen?" Jen asked. Troy and Gabriella exchanged glances.

"Yeah, we remember." Gabriella said.

"Cool. We I hope that Kelli doesn't win. Her and her Kelli Klones are plain evil." Katie huffed.

"Yeah, we're gonna beat them into a pulp! Did you get too competitive Mom?" Jen asked.

"Um…of course not!" Gabriella lied.

"Well, I dunno. I told Andrew that I'm not really into the whole competition thing." Jen remarked.

"Here we go again." Troy muttered under his breath. Gabriella laughed, ignoring the questioning looks from her daughters. She told herself that Jen wouldn't do what she herself did, but in her heart she knew that that was a total lie.

It looked like there was another Homecoming war coming their way.

* * *

Okay, I thought that that was terrible. Except for that last line. I love the last line. Anyway, don't give up on this story yet!**_ READ THIS NEXT PART!!!_** There is still the memorial service, the time for you all to say your goodbyes to this story. So don't say goodbye to this story in your review for this chapter, hold it in until the memorial service. But still tell me what you thought! 

Volleychic123's Review Policy: If you hated it and want to tell me write "Purple socks" in your review. If you loved it write "The story Homecoming War has just ended, and I cannot wait for the memorial service." You don't have to write it if you don't want to and write as much as you want.


	15. Memorial Service

The memorial service has arrived. Get out your tissues and black clothes, because it is time to say goodbye. Hold on, (sobs like mad) Okay, I'm back.

I've thought of a special format for your goodbye. So here it is:

(insert name here) steps up and places (insert gift name here) in front of the grave. He/she then says "(insert goodbye here)." He/she then steps back, waiting for someone else to step up.

So that's the format, pretty easy. You'll need to use copy and paste to put all that in your review. And obviously don't keep it as "he/she", put the correct one there.

We'll start with my goodbye.

Volleychic123 steps up and places Zeke and Sharpay's crowns in front of the grave. She then says, "I would like to welcome you all to the Memorial service for the story Homecoming War. I loved writing this, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. This was my most popular story, and I will miss it very much. I sort of feel like when you finally finish reading a book series and there are no more books coming out, how you still want to keep reading, but there is nothing left to read. So now is the time to say goodbye my only story so far that broke 100 reviews." She then steps back, waiting for someone else to step up.

You can write a good hearty review if you like, or something small. All I ask is that you use my format. And then if you want to add anything else at the end feel free.

I got an idea for another story the other day, its called "The Heartbreak Club". It will be Troyella, duh. But I don't know when I'll have the first chapter up, or if I'll even go through with it. But anyway, put me on author alert if you're really interested.

And also put my other new story, "The Though of You Keeps Me Alive", on your alerts.

And for those who have been awaiting the first chapter of it, I apologize. This story takes a lot of research, and I mean A LOT. I have about ten pages printed out from the internet, a National Geographic Magazine based entirely on that time period, and I even bought a book.


End file.
